


Thank You, Friend

by Ceylar



Series: The World of Datlof [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alien Character(s), Blood, Blood and Injury, Datlof, Death, Empath, Gen, Magic, Minor Character Death, Murder, Pain, References to Illness, Science, Yoglabs, life story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 14:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 80,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11233218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceylar/pseuds/Ceylar
Summary: Apologies, but this is currently on hiatus due to writers block - I'm trying my hardest to get back into the swing of things, but I can't say for sure when the next chapter upload will be :(“May all our future adventures be stupid and fun!”This story is focussing on the lives of Lewis and Simon as they wander through it, meeting friends, making enemies and having good times together.Some chapters will be fairly graphic and violent, if that's the case, I'll put a little warning in the notes letting you know. I'll also put a warning there if there are any other things that people might find upsetting in any way, so please check before reading it. I'll be updating tags regularly so make sure you check.





	1. Prologue 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Moonquest](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/300657) by The Yogscast. 
  * Inspired by [Yoglabs](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/300660) by The Yogscast. 



> I'm going to try my best to upload a new chapter every week.
> 
> Some chapters will be fairly graphic and violent, if that's the case, I'll put a little warning here letting you know. I'll also put a warning here if there are any other things that people might find upsetting in any way.
> 
> The title is a work in progress and will possibly change over the course of the story.

The night air was cool, although not cold as the dwarf walked slowly along the stream, the water chattering as it rushed over pebbles and rocks. He wore protective metal shoulder pads over his tough skin that was pale from a lifetime spent underground, but darkened slightly by days spent in front of raging furnaces, and his dark brown trousers were held up with a sturdy leather belt. Like many dwarfs, he was topless and only a leather strap holding his tools and weapons crossed his chest. This was only the third time the dwarf had been out of the caves, and only the second time he’d seen the stars glimmering in the inky sky above him. The sky was lacking a presence though tonight; it was a new moon and the silver disk was nowhere to be seen. The last time the dwarf had seen the moon was on the night of a full moon and his breath had been taken away by the still quiet beauty of the celestial body. He’d been unable to stop thinking about the moon ever since, and had asked the elders of his clan if it would be possible for them, for him to go to the moon somehow. They had immediately rejected his idea, after all a dwarf’s place was underground, not up in space. The idea of a dwarf in space? Ridiculous! The dwarf had then gone away and thought hard about what the elders had said, and soon he returned to them with another proposition. What if he left the clan and went to the moon himself? This proposal had shocked the elders into a stunned silence. Leaving meant being unable to use his clan name, and a dwarf usually only left their clan if they’d been banished. Somewhat reluctantly, the elders had agreed to the dwarf’s proposal. If he wanted to leave and try to go to the moon, then who were they to try and stop him? So the dwarf had gathered a few belongings, said his farewells and left. And now he found himself slowly walking alongside this small noisy river, tall dark trees towering on the far side of the stream with stars twinkling in the sky; missing the warmth and frivolity that filled the caverns of his home after a day of working in the mines.

The dwarf paused and gazed up into the sky, his hazel eyes reflecting the multitude of stars. For the first time since leaving his home, doubts had filled his mind. How would he be able to reach the moon? He was a dwarf; he knew about minerals and rocks, not spacecrafts and lunar landings. And how would he find anyone who would be willing to help him achieve his dream of being on the moon? He sighed as he sat down heavily on a rock by the stream, the tips of his heavy leather boots dangling in the water. He took his helmet off his head, his ginger hair shining brightly in the starlight as he rested the helmet on his knees, staring at the reflection of the night sky in the polished metal. Something glimmering brightly in the reflection caught the dwarf’s attention and he glanced back up into the sky, catching sight of what looked like a trail of fire speeding rapidly through the air. Standing up, he clambered onto the rock to get a better view as whatever it was plummeted through the air, finally disappearing behind the trees. Even from the far distance away he was, the dwarf could hear the crash of twisting and ripping metal as something tore through the trees and landed on the ground. The dwarf scrambled to gather his things, and placing his helmet back on his head, he ran off towards where the thing had landed. He had to know what it was!

It wasn’t long until the dwarf found the crash site; trees had been knocked clean down and a muddy scar had been torn through the earth, fragments of metal strewn about among the felled trees. Small fires were burning and lighting the area with a flickering yellowy glow. The dwarf followed the trail through the trees until he found the wreck. What looked like the remains of some kind of spaceship had lodged itself in a net of partially toppled trees, resting at a gentle angle. A wing had been torn clean off and it rested a few meters away from the spaceship, wires dangling into the ground. Around the wreck were even more fires and the dwarf could see the dull red glow of the still cooling metal. From out of his pack, he pulled a pair of thick leather gloves used for work around the forges. When he pulled them on, they came up to his elbows, completely protecting his lower arms and hands. He ran over to the spaceship and started scaling the side, his boots and gloves protecting him from the still glowing metal. He could feel the heat radiating from the spaceship as he climbed, but he paid no heed to it; the heat in the forges could reach temperatures which blistered skin. The dwarf quickly climbed to the top of the spaceship and through a small cracked window, he caught sight of a young man. He was unconscious and blood was trickling down the side of his face from a nasty looking wound. The dwarf quickly located the door and straining, he managed to pull it open and clamber inside. Now that he was inside the spaceship, he took off his gloves and trotted over to the unconscious man. He was wearing a what was obviously a uniform; black trousers, and a practical black zipped up jacket, both trimmed in gold and dark blue. There was a small insignia on the left side of the jacket and at the top of the sleeves was a small embroidered design of leaves encircling a star. There was a white name embroidered onto the right side of the jacket that read Capt. Brindley. The man himself had pale skin that contrasted sharply with the black uniform and his own dark brown hair. He had a thin beard and on his cheeks were a light scattering of freckles.

The man was slumped in the chair he was sat in, the restraints holding him in place and stopping him from falling to the floor. The dwarf began inspecting the restraints and quickly found their release mechanism. As soon as the restraints slackened, the man began falling from the seat but the dwarf quickly caught him, gently pulling him from the seat and dragging him towards the door. Upon reaching the door, the dwarf positioned the man so his legs were dangling out, then he pulled on his gloves and clambered out of the spaceship and dropped to the ground. He had to jump to grab onto the man’s ankles, but once he had a hold on them, he was able to pull the man down from the spaceship, catching him in his arms before he hit the floor. The dwarf then pulled the man a safe distance away from the wreck and the fires before lying him down on the ground and starting a fire of his own, encircling the flames with stones to stop them from escaping along the forest floor. Now that they were safely away from the wreck and there was light, the dwarf tended to the man’s injuries. The cut on his head was quite serious and the dwarf had to sew it up before wrapping it in bandages. After he’d done, he placed his pack under the man’s head and sat himself down with his back against a tree. The crackling of the fire filled the air as the dwarf lifted his gaze once more to the night sky. What were the chances of a spaceman falling from the sky on the very night he left his home to find someone to take him to the moon…? The dwarf smiled as he began to doze. Things were beginning to look up.

* * *

 

The man found himself looking up through the branches of tall trees as he slowly opened his eyes. It was dark, but the sky still had a blue tinge to it from the very last remains from the sun and not all the stars in the sky were shining yet. There was the tiniest slither of the moon glimmering through the branches, shining silver. The smell of cooking meat drifted through the air towards the man and the scent made his mouth water and his stomach rumble. He shifted his gaze slightly and caught sight of a small, rather rotund man with a large busy ginger beard. Despite his large belly, this small man had well muscled arms and resting on the ground beside him was a sword and a worn but well cared for pickaxe. The small man was sat in front of a fire, roasting a small creature over the flames, a contented smile on his face. The man’s stomach rumbled again as he watched the flames dancing around the slowly cooking creature; reminding him how hungry he was. Gathering his strength, the man sat himself up, gasping as blood rushed around his head and set an injury throbbing. The small man glanced over.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” The man cautiously held a hand up to the throbbing injury on his head and his fingers touched bandages. “Can you understand me?” The man glanced up, his hand falling from his forehead.

“Yeah, I can understand you.” The small man grinned, his entire face scrunching up in delight. “What happened?”

“Your thing crashed.”

“My… thing?”

“Yeah.” The small man gestured vaguely with his hands. “Your spaceship thing.” The man’s face furrowed into a frown. Just then, his stomach rumbled noisily and he glanced down embarrassed. The smaller man chuckled. “Sounds like you’re hungry.” He pulled the stick holding the cooked animal from the fire and held it out towards the man. “Here, have this.” The man was about to take it when he stopped.

“What about you, friend?” The small man waved his hand dismissively in the air.

“Don’t worry about me. I have some food in my pack that I can eat.” He replied, almost forcing the stick into the man’s hand. Eagerly, the man started eating as the smaller man rummaged around in his pack and pulled out a roll of dried meat and started eating himself. “So what’s your name?” The man paused and thought for a moment, a small frown dancing across his face.

“Lewis.” He eventually replied, an almost relieved look passing over his face. “Lewis Brindley. And what about you, friend?”

“I’m Honeydew Simon of Khaz Mo- no, just Honeydew Simon.” He’d nearly forgotten that he wasn’t allowed to use his clan name anymore. A puzzled expression crossed Lewis’s face.

“Honeydew?” Simon nodded.

“A good strong dwarven name!” He proclaimed proudly. Lewis examined the man sat across from him more closely.

“So you’re a dwarf?”Simon nodded once more.

“Born and raised in the mountains like my family before me.”

“Simon… Honeydew, Honeydew Simon. Right?” Lewis looked up at Simon for confirmation and the dwarf nodded. “Could I call you Simon? I don’t think I’ll be able to remember Honeydew that easily…” Simon shrugged, smiling slightly.

“Whatever’s easier for you.” He replied happily, taking a large bite of the dried meat he was holding. Lewis was suddenly reminded of the food he was still holding in his own hands and for a few moments the pair were silent as they ate. Lewis became lost in thought as he was eating, a small frown furrowing his brow as he tried his hardest to remember what had happened, where he was, who he was. Of course he could remember his name, his age, basic information about who he was, but not who he had been, or where he had come from, or if he had a family. And this scared him.

Simon finished eating quickly and he sighed contentedly before leaning back against the tree he was sat up against, gazing up into the sky. The sigh broke Lewis out of his train of thought and he glanced at the food still in his hands. Gently he put the uneaten food down on the ground; he wasn’t hungry any more. Simon glanced over at Lewis and quickly caught sight of the food on the ground.

“Not hungry any more?” Lewis smiled slightly.

“Not really.” Simon got to his feet and picked up the food before wrapping it up and placing it inside his pack.

“Well it will keep for another day!” He said, grinning at Lewis. Lewis couldn’t help but smile back.

“You mentioned a spaceship-type thing, friend.” Lewis spoke tentatively and Simon looked up at him as he spoke. “Do you know where it is?”

“Of course I know where it is! I pulled you from the wreckage after all!” He said loudly, ginning widely.

“Could you take me to see it, friend?”

“Of course!” Simon walked over to Lewis and held out his hand to help the man up. Lewis grasped hold of his hand and was quickly pulled to his feet by the dwarf. “Blimey, you weigh absolutely nothing!” Simon mumbled under his breath as Lewis glanced around the forest, having a better viewpoint now he was standing. “Come on, this way.” Simon said, gesturing through the dark trees. Lewis glanced down at the dwarf and was surprised to see that Simon was a lot smaller than he’d initially thought, with Lewis towering at least two feet taller than the small man. Lewis started following Simon into the trees but stopped when he saw how dark it got underneath the thick canopy of the trees. A feeling of unease swept over him as he gazed out into the darkness.

“I don’t suppose you have any lights, do you, friend?” Lewis called out. Simon stopped and turned and caught sight of Lewis hanging back, still well within the area lit up by the fire. Simon began heading back towards Lewis and the fire.

“No, but I can quite easily make one. Give me a sec.” Simon grabbed a branch from the forest floor and broke off the excess twigs before he reached into his pack and pulled out a small tin. He opened the tin and swiftly pulled out a length of soaked fabric. He closed the tin, dropping it back into his back before he swiftly wrapped the fabric around one end of the branch, wiping his hands on his trousers before he dipped the end of the branch with the fabric into the fire and when he lifted it out, flames were burning at the end of the branch. Lewis had watched Simon work curiously. Despite being able to remember very little, he somehow knew with a strange certainty that he had never watched someone make a torch, or any kind of light, in that way before. Simon grinned as he walked back over to Lewis. “Ready now, spaceman?”

“Spaceman?!” Lewis spluttered as Simon walked past him. He quickly turned and followed the dwarf into the dark forest.

“Yeah, spaceman. You’re a man, and you came from space. Spaceman.” Simon replied, grinning widely as Lewis frowned slightly.

“I hardly think that makes me a spaceman, friend.” He replied, still frowning slightly. Lewis glanced at the makeshift torch Simon was carrying, again reminded that he had never seen someone make a torch in that way before. “Hey, friend, what was that material soaked in?”

“Just some leftover oil. We find a lot of oil wells when digging for other resources and the stuff we don’t use or sell on gets used for making torches.” Lewis hummed thoughtfully.

“Oil needs to be heated before it can burn though, so you must need a heat source or a fire for a torch made that way to actually work…” Simon grinned.

“Yep. Which makes it safer down in the mines where you can get a lot of sparks from digging. You don’t want something that might catch on fire suddenly surrounded by sparks and the like. It’s just not safe.”

“Ah, that makes sense. And you’d already have torches down there already lit so actually making the oil catch on fire wouldn’t be to difficult either.”

“You got it, spaceman!” Simon said, elbowing Lewis in the legs, causing him to stumble slightly. Lewis grumbled at being called a spaceman again, but before he could properly voice his complaints, the pair arrived at the crash site of Lewis’s wrecked spaceship.

Lewis fell silent as he walked forwards slowly, circling around the wreckage, Simon following close behind; the flickering of the torch reflecting off the metal of the spaceship. All the fires from the previous night had died down and the wreck looked ghostly and pale, almost like it had been there for centuries rather than only 24 hours. Lewis found the entrance and hauled himself up into the spaceship. Simon grumbled for a moment as Lewis vanished inside the spaceship before he shoved the torch into the ground and took a running leap at the entrance, gripping on with his hands before hauling himself up into the spaceship to join Lewis. Lewis was slowly walking around the spaceship with a small frown on his face as he looked around at his surroundings. Simon watched him for a moment before he walked up to him, and placed his hand on Lewis’s back, causing the man to jump.

“So what’s the damage?” Simon asked, seemingly oblivious to how he had just made Lewis jump so violently. The small frown returned to Lewis’s face as he looked around again.

“I don’t know.” He replied softly. Simon arched an eyebrow as he looked up at Lewis, his hand falling from the man’s back.

“What do you mean, you don’t know? This is your spaceship, isn’t it?” Lewis’s gaze flicked to Simon for a moment.

“Maybe.” Lewis said vaguely, moving off around the spaceship again. Simon watched him, his movements slow and curious, almost like he was looking at the spaceship for the first time…

“Is the reason why you crashed this thing because you’ve never actually flown it before?”

“I don’t know…” Lewis frowned and flicked a couple of switches. Suddenly the spaceship was filled with a gentle humming and lights light up across the console in front of the chair that Simon had dragged Lewis from the previous night. “Well the generator’s still working…” Lewis mumbled softly, mostly to himself as he moved to the entrance and placed his hand over a small panel beside where the door used to be. There was a gentle flickering and the lights in the spaceship slowly turned on. Simon glanced around in amazement as Lewis strode past him to the console.

“I don’t understand. You don’t know if you know how to use this spaceship, or if it’s even yours, yet you knew instantly how to turn on the generator and the lights?” Lewis glanced up at Simon and paused for a moment, running his hand through his hair.

“I’m pretty sure this doesn’t belong to me, at least I don’t think it does anyway.” Lewis said softly. While certain things in the spaceship seemed familiar and he had instinctively known how to turn on the generator and lights, he didn’t remember how he came to be in this spaceship, or why he had crashed it into the ground. Simon walked over to the console and plopped himself down into the chair, gazing out at the myriad of buttons and screens, some twinkling and flashing with light.

“Ok, so you’re pretty sure you don’t own this spaceship, yet you know how to use it?” Simon asked, looking up at Lewis. Lewis looked almost as confused as Simon felt.

“I think so?”

“Level with me. Can you remember crashing this?” Lewis paused before he shook his head. “Ok, can you remember before crashing, like flying around in space or warping about in it or whatever this spaceship does?”

“No.” Lewis replied, shaking his head slightly again.

“Can you remember anything from before?” The pause was longer and Lewis’s expression slowly shifted to something like fear.

“Not really.” He eventually replied. He sighed suddenly and sank down to the floor with his back resting against the control panel, holding his head in his hands. “I’m scared, friend. What happened to me? Why can’t I remember anything?” Lewis’s voice broke slightly as he spoke and Simon started slightly as his eyes started glowing ever so slightly blue.

“Hey, it’ll be alright. I mean, you survived the crash and there was no one else on board so that means no one died. Right?” Simon said, jumping off the chair to stand by Lewis and place a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Lewis drew in a long shaky breath and let it out with a whoosh.

“I guess. But why was I on my own in the first place?” Lewis asked, almost desperately, looking up at Simon with his eyes still glowing ever so slightly blue, and now that he was closer, Simon noticed an even fainter blue glow coming from the man’s freckles.

“I don’t know.” Simon shrugged. “Maybe you were on a mission to discover new life or something.” He grinned slightly at Lewis. Lewis shook his head and looked down once more.

“It just doesn’t make sense.” He murmured softly. “There’s no reason why I’d be alone…”

“Well you’re not alone now are you? You’ve got me!” Lewis looked up at Simon in surprise before a small smile passed over his lips, the blue glow beginning to fade away from his eyes.

“Yeah. I guess you’re right, friend.”

“Of course I’m right! That’s one thing you’re going to learn about me, Spaceman, I’m always right.” Simon winked at Lewis as he patted his shoulder before pulling his belt up, stretching out his back as he did. “Come on, spaceman. Let’s head back, we can look over this thing again tomorrow when it’s light out.”

Once more Simon hauled Lewis to his feet and the pair walked over to the open door. Lewis placed his hand back over the panel beside the door and the lights in the spaceship faded away as Simon dropped himself out of the spaceship to the ground below where he picked up the still burning torch and looked back up at Lewis. Lewis was a little more cautious than Simon as he lowered himself down from the spaceship despite the drop being a lot shorter for him than it had been for the dwarf. Once his feet were firmly on the ground again, the pair headed back through the dark forest towards the fire and Simon’s things. They were silent as they walked; Lewis was wrapped up in his thoughts and Simon had the decency to let him think undisturbed. Lewis didn’t even snap out of his thoughts when they reached the fire; sitting down and staring into the flames with a small frown on his face as he gazed at the flickering fire. Simon sat with his back against a tree and watched Lewis curiously for a few minutes. He wondered what it must be like waking up and not being able to remember your past. Lewis suddenly yawned and after it had finished, he glanced around at his surroundings almost like he hadn’t quite realised that they’d made it back yet. Simon grinned slightly.

“You were pretty deep in thought there, Lewis.” He commented as Lewis looked at him through the fire.

“Yeah, I guess I was.” Lewis yawned again. He was ridiculously tired even though he’d only been awake for a short while and done very little. Simon watched as Lewis yawned a third time.

“You look like you’re ready for sleep.” Lewis smiled tiredly.

“I guess you’re right, friend. Although I don’t see why I should be, I woke up not long ago.” Lewis finished his sentence with a yawn and Simon grinned.

“Well you did bang your head pretty hard when you crashed, I mean that might have something to do with it.” Lewis’s hand reached up to brush against the fabric of the bandages.

“Maybe that’s why…” He mumbled quietly trailing off as he frowned slightly again.

“Well get some sleep, spaceman, I don’t want you passing out and falling into the fire.” Simon joked, grinning at Lewis. Lewis returned the smile before he lay down on the ground, trying to make himself comfortable, yawning once again. “Sweet dreams, spaceman.”

“You too, friend.” Lewis murmured sleepily as he closed his eyes and soon he was fast asleep.

Simon gazed up at the sky as Lewis sighed quietly in his sleep. He had been bursting to ask Lewis if he would take him to the moon, but he’d understood that he’d had a rough time and needed to adjust to what had happened. And then he’d found out that Lewis could remember very little from before the crash and it was painfully clear at how much this upset him, so Simon had decided to delay asking about going into space until Lewis seemed less stressed and upset from what had happened. Simon lay awake stargazing for another hour or so until he too finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 

Lewis jerked awake, sitting bolt upright as his heart pounded furiously and he struggled to catch his breath, his eyes glowing bright blue. As he slowly began to calm down, he pushed his hair back from his face and glanced across the burnt out fire at Simon, the glow beginning to fade from his eyes. The dwarf was still fast asleep, snoring softly as his chest rose and fell. There was a slight chill in the air and everything was covered in dew as the birds in the forest filled the air with their song and there was a grey predawn light in the air. Lewis breathed in and out deeply to try and calm himself further and thought back to the nightmare he’d just woken up from. The dream had already started to fade and he could remember little except from an intense feeling of panic that had held him rooted to the spot. He shook his head to try and rid the memory of it from him and the motion made his injury on his head start to throb. Lewis glanced up as Simon rolled over slightly in his sleep, mumbling quietly before returning to his snoring. Lewis doubted that Simon had any painkillers in his pack, and besides that he felt uncomfortable rummaging around in the dwarf’s belongings when they’d only just met. So Lewis climbed to his feet, brushing stray leaf matter from himself before he headed off through the trees to where Simon had showed him the crashed spaceship. Early morning dew glistened on the metal of the spaceship making the whole wreck look like it had been coated in diamonds and jewels. Lewis pulled himself up into the spaceship and placed his hand over the panel in the wall, making the lights flicker on. He wandered to the back of the spaceship and started looking through the cupboards and drawers. After having looked through every cupboard and drawer and found nothing, Lewis frowned and glanced around the rest of the spaceship where he caught sight of a white plastic box fixed to the wall. There was a gold cross with a thin red outline on the front of the box and when Lewis opened it, he found medical supplies nestled neatly inside. He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity as he took the box from the wall and placed it down on the console before sitting himself in the chair and rummaging through the contents. He quickly found what he was looking for, a small container filled with a cloudy viscous liquid. Lewis cracked off the top of the container and drank the liquid. It tasted slightly of strawberries as he drank it and a slight numbness followed where it had passed in his mouth and throat. Lewis couldn’t say how he had known that the liquid in the container was what he needed, but once again he had instinctively known that the liquid was a form of painkiller. Sure enough, the throbbing in Lewis’s head passed after a few minutes of him having ingested the liquid.

Once the pain in his head had gone, Lewis started examining the spaceship more thoroughly, noting what parts appeared to be broken, and what still functioned normally. He fell into a sort of trance as he worked, almost as if he had done this sort of thing many times over. Lewis didn’t notice as the sun rose and the dew on the outside of the spaceship started to evaporate away. He didn’t even notice when Simon clambered up into the spaceship, grumbling about the difficulties of getting into the spaceship. He looked around the spaceship and caught sight of Lewis at the console, completely oblivious as he typed something in on one of the keypads. Simon wandered over to Lewis, glancing around at all the things that were on the floor and panels that had been taken off exposing the tangle of wires beneath. He reached the console and jumped up onto the chair, Lewis still completely unaware of his presence.

“Morning, Lewis.” Simon said loudly, finally catching Lewis’s attention.

“What? Simon? When, what time is it? How long have you been here?” Lewis replied, frowning over at the dwarf as he was suddenly dragged out of his trance. There were faint grey circles under Lewis’s eyes, hinting that he had spent a good few hours already up after very little sleep the previous night.

“It’s midmorning. And I only got here a few minutes ago. Although I reckon I could’ve been here for hours and you wouldn’t have noticed. How long have you been here anyway?” Simon asked, scratching his beard as he spoke. Lewis ran a hand over his face.

“Ugh, midmorning?” He frowned as he looked around the spaceship. “I’ve done hardly anything…” Simon raised an eyebrow at Lewis.

“What exactly have you been doing?”

“I’ve been checking over the spaceship.”

“I thought you couldn’t remember anything about it?” Lewis looked slightly perplexed as he shrugged.

“I can’t. But I know what everything does, and I know what’s broken and what’s working.” Excitement began to bubble inside Simon but he didn’t let it show for the moment.

“So, you’re trying to fix it?” He asked, hopeful that the answer would be yes.

“I don’t know.” Lewis admitted. “I mean, what would I do with it if I fixed it, friend?” Simon shrugged nonchalantly.

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe you could take it on a test flight to the moon.” Lewis frowned again.

“The moon? Why would I want to go to the moon, friend?” Simon had to hold back the excited grin that was creeping across his face.

“Just as a test, y’know.” He waved his hands around vaguely. “Like the moon is pretty close to earth y’know. It’d be easy to test a spaceship by trying to fly it to the moon. And besides, no one from earth has been to the moon before, we’d, I mean you’d be the first person there!” Simon was almost bouncing up and down from the excitement as he finished speaking. Lewis was still frowning but there was a slight smile on his face too.

“I don’t suppose this suggestion is because you want to go to the moon, is it?”

“Of course not!” Simon tried to feign indignance but failed as a large grin spread over his face. Lewis smiled back, his frown falling away as he watched Simon.

“The moon, huh, friend?” Simon nodded excitedly as Lewis paused and leant against the console. “Well I mean this spaceship needs a lot of work before it would be ready to head into space. A whole wing got torn off for a start.” Simon grinned widely as Lewis spoke, beginning to bounce about in the chair.

“But you’ll take me to the moon, right?” Lewis grinned at Simon.

“Why not, friend? It’s the least I can do after you helped me out after this crash.” Simon could barely contain his excitement, squealing loudly which made Lewis clap his hands over his ears. After Simon had finished celebrating, Lewis lowered his hands down and looked at Simon curiously. “Why do you want to go to the moon anyway, friend? I mean, I don’t really know anything about dwarves, but I’m pretty sure that they’re supposed to stay underground.” Simon was too elated to let the memory of his home bring him down.

“Sure, most dwarves never leave the mountain, but the last time I left the mountain I saw the moon and I just knew I had to go there and see what it’s like in space, y’know? I mean the elders weren’t exactly happy to let me go but they couldn’t stop me. And besides, this will mean that I’m going to be the first dwarf on the moon! How amazing is that?!” Simon gushed excitedly, his arms waving about animatedly. Lewis grinned as he watched the dwarf.

“But how were you planning to get to the moon? I mean it’s complete coincidence that I crashed and you found me.” Simon shrugged.

“I hadn’t got that far. But it doesn’t matter now, does it?” He said, grinning widely. “Cause you’re going to take me to the moon!” Lewis chuckled slightly.

“Yeah, I’m going to take you to the moon, friend. But first we need to fix up this spaceship, and that’s going to take a while.” Simon’s excitement deflated slightly for a moment before it returned in full force.

“So what do you need to fix this thing up?” He asked, eager to get started. Lewis glanced around the spaceship.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure yet. I need to finish looking it over and assessing the damage. And once I’ve done that we’ll need to collect all the things I need to fix it up. Then we can start on fixing it up.”

“How long will it take for you to finish finding out what’s wrong?” Lewis glanced back at Simon, raising his eyebrows and smiling slightly.

“I can probably finish assessing it today, but you’ll have to promise to keep quite and out of my way while I do it, friend.” Simon squealed excitedly again.

“Alright, I promise!” He exclaimed. Lewis smiled and pushed himself up off the console, stretching his back as he straightened up.

“Ok. Well I’ll get started, friend. You might not want to hang around, it’ll probably be a little boring.” Simon leant back in the chair, still grinning madly.

“I’ll stay where I am, spaceman.” Lewis shook his head at being called a spaceman again before he moved away from the console.

“Suit yourself, friend, but I’m warning you this will be pretty boring to watch.” He commented as he headed to the back of the spaceship.

* * *

 

It was dark by the time Lewis finally returned to the temporary camp that Simon had worked on a little durning the day. Despite having been overly excited at the prospect of going to space, he had quickly discovered that watching Lewis examine the spaceship had been just as boring as he had promised. So he’d decided to make better use of his time and had spent the day setting traps for food and erecting a small shelter out of the wood from the trees that had been felled in the crash. The shelter had been constructed from one large branch that he had rested in the crook between two branches of a small tree. He’d then placed branches and a thick covering of leaves and other plant matter to keep the inside of the shelter protected from wind and rain. Simon had grown hungry while waiting for Lewis to return from the spaceship and had eaten the leftover food from the previous night and he was just finishing gnawing on the bones as Lewis appeared through the trees, clutching tightly onto a small glowing stick that provided a little light for him to navigate the dark trees with. As Lewis approached the camp, he caught sight of the carcass in Simon’s hand and felt his stomach rumble emptily, reminding him that the last time he’d eaten had been last night. That topped with his head injury and lack of sleep had made him feel rather lightheaded on the walk back to the camp.

“I thought you were going to spend the night in there, considering how late it’s got now.” Simon commented to Lewis as he sat down across the fire, letting the small glowing stick fall from his hands now he was in the glow from the firelight. Lewis glanced up tiredly and smiled, the dark circles under his eyes even more pronounced than they had been earlier on in the day.

“You don’t happen to have any food left, do you, friend?” Lewis asked, his voice laced with tiredness.

“Only dried meat, but it’s still food.” Simon pulled his pack closer to him and pulled out some of the dried meat he had, holding it out for Lewis to take. Lewis accepted it the food gratefully from the dwarf and tucked into it hungrily. “So have you figured out what materials we need to collect?” Lewis’s eyes flicked up to Simon before they returned to his food.

“Mm. There’s quite a few things we need to get.” He mumbled around a mouthful of food. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to find some of the things. I might have to make them from scratch.” He put down the food for a moment, wiping at his mouth with his hand as he looked over at Simon. “Unless there’s somewhere nearby where we’d be able to buy them.”

“Well, there’s only a small town near where we are, and I have no idea what you need to buy, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to find them there. The only place I think you’d be able to find the things you’d need is in Datlof, but that’s a long way from here.” Lewis had returned to his food as Simon spoke, nodding occasionally.

“So we’ll need to collect a lot of base resources, which means we’ll need to do a lot of digging…” At the mention of digging Simon’s face lit up.

“Well you’ve teamed up with the right dwarf!” He said proudly, patting his pickaxe lovingly. Lewis looked up at him once again, popping the last bit of dried meat into his mouth.

“Still, we’ve got a lot of things we need to collect. We’ll need to wake up early to get started tomorrow.” Simon pulled a face at Lewis.

“Get up early? Lewis, why?” Lewis looked over at Simon.

“So we can maximise our time spent gathering resources. There’s a lot we need to get.”

“But, but I’m a dwarf!” He exclaimed loudly, an almost offended tone creeping into his voice. “We don’t get up early!” Lewis sighed.

“Simon, we’re waking up early tomorrow so that we can spend the day gathering what we need.” His tone was decisive and told Simon that there would be no negotiating the matter. Simon grumbled quietly as he shuffled into the shelter he’d built during the day.

“I hope you don’t snore, because I’ve not built this shelter very big and unless you want to spend another night waking up covered in dew, then you’ll have to sleep in it next to me.” Simon said as he settled himself down into the shelter, still quietly grumbling at the prospect of an early morning. Lewis sighed and got to his feet before he walked over to the shelter and crawled inside next to Simon.

“I don’t think it’s me you have to worry about snoring, friend. You were happily snoring away this morning.” Lewis said as he tried to make himself comfortable on the bed of leaves that Simon had made. Beside him Simon snorted. “Well, good night, friend.”

“Goodnight, spaceman. Sweet dreams!”

It didn’t take long for Simon to drift to sleep, his gentle snores filling the air, however Lewis found that sleep was eluding him, despite the overwhelming tiredness he was feeling. For some reason the thought of going into space unnerved him, almost like he’d been running from something that resided in the endless blackness. And the walk back to the camp had been stressful with the tall dark trees towering over him. Of course he’d taken the small light with him that’d he’d found on the spaceship, but the small glow had done little to fight the creeping darkness all around him. It had been a huge relief when he’d caught sight of the flickering fire and Simon sat beside it. Still the short journey had left him feeling restless and because of that sleep was slow coming. But eventually, the gentle rhythmic snoring from Simon beside him lulled him into a deep sleep.


	2. Prologue 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't proof-read this yet, so there may be some errors in it.

Lewis gasped loudly as his eyes flew open, glowing a startling blue. Beside him, Simon rolled over, still fast asleep and unaware of the world around him. He’d had the nightmare again. Once again, the details  of the dream had faded quickly, except for the intense overwhelming panic that had gripped him so tightly. As Lewis worked on calming himself once more, he became aware of the forest around him. Once more the air was filled with birdsong and as he crawled out of the shelter, the cool morning air nipped at his face and hands, the grey predawn light giving the forest a ghostly feel. He stood in front of the shelter, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the cold air rushing through his system and steadying him further. However the shroud of the nightmare hung around him like a mantel and he walked through the trees to where he could hear the sound of a small stream running through the forest. It didn’t take him long to find the stream and upon reaching it, he knelt down by the chattering water and scooped some into his hands before splashing it over his face. The water was chilling and made Lewis gasp, but it succeeded in shaking the last of the nightmare from him. He sat knelt by the edge of the stream for a few moments, his face tilted slightly upwards as water rivulets ran down his face and neck. The birdsong was loud and Lewis found himself listening carefully to each melody that created the tune of the dawn chorus. Eventually he pushed himself to his feet and walked back to the camp where he went over to the shelter, intent on waking up Simon. After all, he wasn’t going to be getting any more sleep, so they might as well start now.

It took a lot of shaking and Lewis calling out Simon’s name for the dwarf to finally wake up, grumbling and blinking sleepily as he made his way out of the shelter. Once he was out in the open, he sat down on the floor and yawned, stretching his arms above his head.

“Come on, Simon. We’ve got a lot of work to do today.” Lewis said as he looked down at the dwarf.

“This is an ungodly time to wake up, Lewis.” Simon muttered as he squinted up at Lewis. “The sun hasn’t even risen yet!”

“Well, I was awake so I thought it would be better if we got to work now. We can get more done this way.” Simon grumbled again as he got to his feet, yawning again. 

“What I want to know is why the hell were you awake at this time?” He looked closer at Lewis. “And why is your collar and hair all wet?” Lewis waved his hand dismissively in the air. 

“I went to the stream when I woke up.”

“And plunged your head into it obviously.” Lewis couldn’t help but grin at Simon’s remark.

“Come on, friend. I don’t really know anything about digging, so I need you to show me what to do.” Simon walked over to his pack and picked up his pickaxe that was lying next to it. He swung it over his shoulder and turned to face Lewis.

“Alright, spaceman. The first thing you need to know about digging is that you need a pickaxe. And a shovel is always handy too. Now unless you’ve got a pickaxe hidden away in that fancy spaceship of yours, we’ll have to make you one.”

“So how do you make a pickaxe?” Simon grinned.

“Well, first you need to find a cave to start digging, and from there on you start digging.” He turned away from Lewis and headed into the forest. “Come on, spaceman. We’ve got to find ourselves a good diggin’ cave!”

As they walked further into the forest, every so often Simon would pause and kneel down, crumbling a little dirt in his fingers before he’d stand back up and start walking, sometimes changing direction slightly. It wasn’t too long before the ground started sloping downwards, topsoil thinning away to reveal rock beneath. Simon turned grinned back at Lewis.

“We’ve found ourselves a mighty fine diggin’ cave here, Lewis!” He announced proudly, gesturing down into the darkness that lay before them. Lewis walked past Simon and peered uncertainly down into the cave.

“It’s rather dark down there, friend.” He commented.

“Caves tend to be quite dark, you know.” Simon replied, elbowing Lewis. “But don’t you worry, we’ll be taking some torches down with us. Can’t be digging in the dark y’know.” Lewis relaxed slightly at the mention of torches and stepped out of the way of Simon as he went off to grab a selection of branches, slowly turning them into torches. Once he had a small collection of torches, the tops all wrapped up in oil soaked cloth, he pulled out a small flint and tinder from his pocket and quickly started a small fire going. As the flames began to burn brighter, Simon grabbed the torch nearest him and plunged it into the flames where it caught fire. Wordlessly he held the torch out to Lewis who took it from him before he grabbed a second torch and lit it. Now that the two torches had been lit, Simon stamped out the fire. Lewis looked at him curiously.

“Why are you putting it out, friend? Wouldn’t it be better to keep it going in case we need it later?” Simon collected up the spare torches and tucked them securely into his belt as he looked up at Lewis.

“We’ll be down in that cave for a while, Lewis. This fire will have burnt out by the time we get back to it, that is if it didn’t set fire to anything around it. So it’s safer to put it out now.” Simon grabbed his pickaxe, resting it on his shoulder. “Well, let’s get going!” He said cheerfully, strolling down into the dark entrance of the cave. Lewis hesitated for a moment before he followed after the dwarf, having to duck slightly as rock closed over his head and darkness surrounded them.

The flames from the torches flickered gently as they walked, creating long dancing shadows on the walls of the cave. Nervously, Lewis glanced behind them and saw the mouth of the cave, daylight shining through, although with each step down the sight of the outside world got smaller and smaller. Lewis turned back to Simon.

“Hey, friend.” He called out. Simon turned his head slightly.

“Hm?”

“How far down will we be going in this cave?” Lewis couldn’t hide the slight trace of nervousness in his voice. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like the walls of the cave pressing in on each side, and the knowledge that if the rock above him didn’t hold, a massive weight of rock and stone would come crashing down, crushing the air from his lungs as it buried him alive.

“Well that depends on what you need for your spaceship.” Thankfully, Simon hadn’t seemed to notice the fear in Lewis’s voice. “To get you a pickaxe, we only need iron but that’s easy to find quite high up.”

“And we’ll be going back to the surface once we have the iron? So we can make it into a pickaxe?” Simon snorted slightly as he laughed.

“I’m a dwarf, Lewis! I can make you a pickaxe here underground, as long as we can find some lava.”

“Oh…” Lewis replied, frowning slightly. He glanced back once again, and with a jolt of horror he realised he couldn’t see the entrance to the cave anymore. “Hey, friend.” This time Lewis’s throat was tight and dry and his voice cracked slightly. This time Simon heard the fearful tone in Lewis’s voice and he paused, turning around to look at Lewis. Lewis was trembling slightly and his eyes were glowing blue, seemingly brighter than before due to the darkness of the cave.

“Are you alright?” Simon asked, reaching up and placing a steadying hand on Lewis’s arm. Simon wasn’t the best when it came to reading emotions, but even he knew when someone was close to panicking. “Here, come on, sit yourself down.” 

Simon guided Lewis to the side of the cave and helped him sit down with his back against the wall. The torch fell from Lewis’s hand and rolled across the floor slightly. Simon picked it up and wedged it in a crack, leaning his own torch up against a rock. Lewis was still trembling and he was clenching and unclenching his hands as the glow in his eyes got brighter. Simon crouched down in front of Lewis, leaning his pickaxe on the floor and using it to give himself some stability.

“Take deep breaths now, come on. Deep breaths, Lewis, and tell me what’s wrong?” Lewis gestured around at the cave, his movements jerky and quick.

“It’s, it’s being underground, all that weight above us, it could, if there’s a cave in,” Lewis’s eyes were flicking around the cave wildly, like he was searching for a way out. Simon nodded slowly. Cave ins were something he was very familiar with, having grown up underground and he understood the risks and the fears. 

“Now, Lewis. I’m going to tell you something, and I want you to listen carefully to me.” Lewis’s gaze focussed in on Simon. “ I’m a dwarf. I was born underground. I grew up underground. I’ve worked in the mines for years. And believe me when I tell you that the idea of a cave in scares me too. But you know how I get around that fear?” Lewis gulped slightly, still trembling. “I get around that fear because I know the ground, I know the rock around us. If there’s an area of the cave which I don’t think is safe, I won’t go there. Trust that I will not take us somewhere that is dangerous.” Lewis nodded slightly, but he was still a long way from being calm. “I won’t leave you alone down here, I promise.”

Lewis nodded again, not trusting himself to speak. He glanced around the dark cave again, the shadows from the torches flickering and reminding him of where he was and his breath hitched as his heat raced in his chest. Simon noticed the shift in Lewis’s attention and with a thump he sat himself beside Lewis, purposefully knocking into him slightly to shift his attention away from the cave. He began to quietly hum a dwarven song, leaning back against the rock behind him with his hands behind his head. Lewis watched him, trying to take comfort from how relaxed the dwarf seemed. Surely if there was any immediate danger, he wouldn’t be so relaxed… Lewis drew in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. After holding the breath for a few seconds he let it out slowly, fixing his gaze on the flickering torch.

“How can you be so calm down here?” Lewis asked quietly, his voice trembling ever so slightly. “Knowing that something might go wrong, something might happen,” his breath caught in his throat for a moment, “knowing that you might die…” Simon stopped humming and glanced over at Lewis.

“Well, something might happen, but it might not. And I trust my knowledge enough to know where is safe, and where isn’t. And besides, even if something does go wrong, it doesn’t mean I’m going to die.” Lewis took another deep breath.

“I guess you’re right…” He mumbled softly. Glancing over, Simon noticed that Lewis seemed calmer; his body was no longer trembling and although his eyes were still glowing, the glow had faded from the bright blue it had been before. Simon clambered to his feet and stood in front of Lewis, his hands on his hips.

“Well, if you’re feeling better, shall we continue?” Lewis looked up at Simon and a twinge of fear passed over his face. “Stick close by me, spaceman and you’ll be absolutely fine.” Simon said, smiling comfortingly as he held out his hand for Lewis to grab.

Hesitantly, Lewis grabbed hold of Simon’s outstretched hand and used it to pull himself to his feet, still having to duck so he wouldn’t hit his head. Simon grabbed the torch leaning up against the rock and handed it to Lewis before he grabbed his pickaxe and pulled the other torch out of the crack in the ground.

“Now, you stay right behind me, and let me know if you start feeling worried again.” Simon said before he started moving off, checking behind him to see if Lewis was following.

“I think I’ll feel better once we’re out of here, friend.” Lewis replied softly.

As the pair headed deeper underground, Simon kept glancing back at Lewis and while the blue glow never completely left his eyes, he didn’t seem as close to panic as he had earlier. It was clear that Lewis was not at home in the caverns and caves under the surface of the earth. This was strange to Simon. While he completely understood Lewis’s fear of a cave in, every dwarf with half a brain cell feared cave ins, the rock and stone around him was his home. Of course his real home was miles away full of light and laughter, but walking through these caves and caverns, Simon felt close to his friends and family. And he couldn’t understand why Lewis was so scared. He knew what he was doing. They were safe down here. Simon suddenly stopped and Lewis almost crashed into him as the dwarf crouched down and started inspecting the rock beneath him.

“Hey, friend! Why the sudden stop?” Lewis asked, trying to make his voice sound lighthearted but failing.

“We’re close to iron.” Simon replied, standing up. He pointed at one of the walls. “There should be some over in that direction. Simon turned to Lewis and grinned, holding out the torch in his hand. Lewis took the torch from Simon as he swung his pickaxe down from his shoulder. “Stand back, spaceman, and watch how a dwarf mines.” He said, still grinning. 

Lewis took a few cautious steps away from Simon who turned to face the wall where he’d been pointing just a moment ago, and after inspecting the stone of the wall for a brief moment he began digging, striking the rock with his pickaxe over and over and over, the clanging of metal against stone echoing around in the cave. Lewis glanced about nervously as Simon dug, almost expecting the rock above him to crack and crumble down, but it remained firmly where it was. It wasn’t long before Simon had made a sizeable tunnel in the wall and Lewis couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Come a little closer, Lewis, I need a little light!” Simon called out over the ringing of his pickaxe and gingerly Lewis crept forwards, holding out one of the torches into the small tunnel. In front of him, Simon was still swinging away at the rock, his powerful muscles bringing his pickaxe down with a force that broke of chunks of rock with every swing. 

A few minutes later Simon cried out and the ringing of his pickaxe fell silent. Lewis felt a twinge of fear rush over him as everything was drowned in silence.

“Friend, are you alright?” Lewis asked, edging into the tunnel slightly, peering down it. Simon was at the end, facing away from Lewis, his pickaxe resting by his side. “Friend?”

“We’ve hit jackpot, spaceman! Come here and have a look!” Simon said, turning around and beaming at Lewis. Cautiously Lewis crept further into the cramped tunnel and made his way to Simon. Once he was by the dwarf’s side, Simon gestured at the rock in front of him. “Take a look at that, Lewis! Good quality iron right there.” Peering at the rock, Lewis could indeed see the orange red streaks in the rock, but if Simon hadn’t pointed it out to him, he wasn’t sure he would’ve noticed it otherwise in the dim light from the torches.

“How did you know it was there, friend?” Lewis asked, looking up at Simon who just beamed at Lewis, standing proudly with his pickaxe swung over his shoulder once more.

“I’m a dwarf, finding metals and minerals is second nature to me!” He replied proudly. Within the tight confines of the tunnel Lewis was beginning to feel more than a little nervous and he glanced around worriedly at the walls surrounding him.

“I’m going to get out of here, I’m feeling a little claustrophobic, friend.” Lewis mumbled, beginning to head out of the small tunnel. Simon looked over at Lewis in concern.

“Get out into the main cavern and take some deep breaths, alright?” Lewis glanced at Simon and gave him a small tight smile. “And while you do that, I’m going to dig out this iron. Leave one of the torches on the ground here, so I have some light.” Lewis did as Simon asked and placed one of the torches gently on the ground before he wiggled out of the tunnel, instantly feeling better the moment he was in a less confined space. Behind him the loud clanging of metal against rock filled the air again as Simon worked at digging up the iron.

As Lewis waited for Simon to finish, the cave he was sat in started feeling smaller and smaller, and the darkness that was surrounding him seemed to be creeping closer with every clang of Simon’s pickaxe, and deep in the pit of his stomach he felt the horribly familiar feeling of panic beginning to build.

“Friend…” Lewis called out weakly, his voice trembling once more, but the clanging noise of the pickaxe drowned him out and Simon didn’t reply. Nervously Lewis glanced at the darkness creeping around him and tried again. “Simon…?” This time the ringing of the pickaxe faded away and a few moments later Simon appeared at the entrance to the tunnel, looking out at Lewis. “Friend, I…” Simon walked out of the tunnel and rested his pickaxe against the wall before he sat down beside Lewis. “I’m sorry.” Lewis mumbled.

“S’alright. Nothing you need to apologise for, spaceman.” Simon glanced up at Lewis. “I’m thinking that after I’ve finished mining this iron, we head back up to the surface to make the pickaxe. Give you a bit of a breather.” Lewis smiled down gratefully at Simon.

“This, I must be a nuisance to you down here…” Lewis mumbled, clutching the torch he was holding tightly as he stared into the flames.

“Nah. Believe it or not, I know a couple of dwarves who don’t like being deep underground. They get all worked up from being in small dark spaces. And when they get like that they head up into the main caverns to relax and unwind.” Lewis glanced over at Simon, frowning slightly.

“They still go down into the mines and work even though they’re scared?” Simon nodded before placing his hands behind his head and propping his feet up on a small rock. “Why?”

“It’s the dwarf in them. The call of the earth is too strong to resist, even if you’re scared of it. We all want to find our share of diamonds and gold.”

“So how common is it for a dwarf to be scared of going deep underground?” The conversation was distracting Lewis from his worries and without him even realising it, he was beginning to calm down.

“Well, as you can probably guess, not many. Most times the reason someone will be scared like that is if they had a bad experience in one of the mines. But that’s rare. What’s even rarer is if the dwarf is just born with that fear. But it still happens occasionally.”

“Do you know any of the dwarves who are scared of going underground?”

“Not personally, no. But you get to know who they are and the signs to look out for for when they might be beginning to panic. After all, it can be dangerous to have someone panicking down in the mines.” Simon looked up at Lewis, carefully looking over him. The blue glow in his eyes had almost completely faded, for the first time since coming underground. “Well, I’m going to get back to digging, I’ve nearly got all the iron. Won’t be long before we’ll be heading back up to the surface, spaceman.” Simon said, clambering to his feet and grabbing hold of his pick. “Shout again if you need me before then.” Lewis smiled gratefully at Simon as the dwarf turned and disappeared back into the tunnel and moments later the familiar ringing of his pickaxe filled the air again.

True to his word, Simon returned from the tunnel not long afterwards, hauling a sack along the ground behind him, his pick over his shoulder and the torch in his hand. Lewis eyes the sack curiously.

“Where did you get that from, friend?” Simon grinned.

“A good dwarf always has a sack on him when he’s mining, after all, you have to transport everything around somehow.” Simon took his pick off his shoulder and slung the sack over in its place. “Well, let’s get ourselves out of here, spaceman.” He headed off back in the direction they’d originally come from, Lewis following close behind again.

“But surely you have methods of transporting things, like rail carts or something?”

“Yep. But they don’t run everywhere in the mines. And if you’re digging out a new vein you’ve got to be able to carry everything you dig back to the mine carts. Watch your head.” Lewis received Simon’s warning too late and the top of his head smacked into a low rock. Stars momentarily danced across his vision as pain flourished around his head and he stumbled backwards, using the wall as a support as the torch fell from his hand. “You alright there, spaceman?” Lewis just groaned in response, his hands cradling his head. “You’re far too tall for these caves. There’s a reason why dwarves are so small and it’s so we don’t hit our heads while mining.” Lewis lowered his hands slightly and looked up at Simon.

“You could’ve warned me a little sooner, friend.” Simon grinned.

“You should’ve been watching where you were going.” He smirked. “Come on, spaceman, let’s keep moving and watch the roof this time.” 

Lewis groaned again, pushing himself off from the wall and picking up the torch before following after Simon, taking extra care to not hit his head on the low ceiling above him. Climbing out of the caves seemed to take much longer than it had going down, and Lewis wondered if it was partly because he was so desperate to get out of the dark cramped caves. But eventually he caught sight of a small chink of daylight shining down from above him and he felt relief well up inside him. In his eagerness to leave the darkness, Lewis rushed past Simon and pulled himself out into fresh air and daylight. From the positioning of the sun, it was clear they’d only spent a couple of hours at most down in the caves, but to Lewis it had felt like days. Simon soon joined Lewis on the outside of the cave, plonking the sack of iron down on the ground as he stretched out his back. 

“Here, Lewis, give me your torch.” Lewis passed the torch he was holding over to Simon who threw both torches down on the ground and stamped them out before he chucked them into the cave. “Alright. Now you just let yourself relax and I’ll work on making you this pickaxe.” 

Lewis gratefully sank down to the ground with his back against a tree as Simon dug a small pit and started filling it with branches and leaves. He pulled the flint and tinder out of his pocket and lit the branches in the pit before he grabbed a large branch and dragged it over to where Lewis was sitting. Simon sat himself down beside Lewis and started carving out a small thick bowl from the branch he had. In front of them the fire was beginning to burn brighter as the flames climbed higher. Lewis watched quietly as Simon whittled away at the wood, the dwarf focussed on what he was doing. The sheer relief of having left the caves and the sleepless nights meant that while Lewis watched, his eyes slowly started drifting closed and soon he was fast asleep. Simon glanced up as Lewis moved slightly in his sleep and shook his head.

“That’s what you get from waking up at stupid o’clock, spaceman.” He murmured quietly, but he left Lewis alone and returned to his work.


	3. Prologue 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE UPDATED THIS CHAPTER AND ADDED ON AN EXTRA 1,000 WORDS TO THE END OF THE CHAPTER

Lewis’s eyes opened slowly as Simon gently shook his shoulder. The dwarf was smiling down at him as he woke up, for once not waking up in the clutches of panic. 

“Hey, friend? What’s up?” Lewis asked sleepily, yawning and stretching as he spoke. Simon grinned and held out a roughly made pickaxe. 

“Here you go, spaceman! Not the best pickaxe I’ve ver made in my life, but it’ll do the trick until I can get a small forge up and running.” Lewis took the pickaxe from Simon and looked over it. Sure enough, it didn’t look as beautifully made as the pickaxe that was tucked in Simon’s belt, but it seemed sturdy enough that it would survive a lot of use. 

“I suppose this means that we’ll be heading back down into those caves again, won’t we?” Lewis asked, feeling a slight stirring of unease. Simon nodded.

“That’s only if you feel up to it, Lewis.” Simon said, a serious tone creeping into his voice. He didn’t want Lewis forcing himself to go down into the cave if he didn’t want to. Lewis frowned at the pickaxe in his hands for a moment before he stood himself up, swinging the pickaxe over his shoulder in a similar way to how Simon normally held his pickaxe. 

“Well, we’ve still got to get those materials for the spaceship, friend. And they aren’t going to dig themselves.” He tried to force a smile on his face, but there was still a trace of worry there. Simon eyed him carefully.

“You don’t have to come down with me if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, It’ll be quicker if I come down with you. And besides, nothing bad happened last time, so nothing bad will happen this time, right, friend?” Lewis said, almost like he was saying that out loud to convince himself that everything would be alright. Simon seriously doubted that having Lewis down there too would be quicker than just himself, but he didn’t mention it.

“Well, alright then. Let’s light up some torches and let’s get going.” Simon grabbed a couple of the torches that he’d made earlier and shoved them into the still slightly burning fire and handed one to Lewis. He quickly checked around the fire pit that nothing nearby would catch fire before he pulled his pickaxe from his belt and walked over to the cave entrance. “Now, we’ll be down there for a good couple of hours, assuming all goes to plan. But before we head down, I’m going to need a list of what you need for your spaceship.”

“We’ll mostly be needing aluminium, steel, titanium would be great if we can get hold of it, lead, copper and quartz . Some silver would be quite useful too.” Lewis said, listing off the items on his fingers. Simon whistled slightly.

“Any specific amounts of all that?”

“Well most of those things are so we can reattach the wing, although we might need to rebuild it from scratch, in which case we’ll be needing a lot more of those.” Lewis paused for a moment, frowning as he thought. “Although I think I’d feel better if we just completely rebuilt the wing. We could always recycle some of the materials on the wing… but that might be difficult…”

“I think I get the idea. Basically we need as much as we can get.” Simon cut across Lewis. Lewis blinked as he was broken out of his train of thought and looked up at Simon.

“Yeah, basically. How difficult will it be to get some of these things?”

“Well, most of these things will be pretty standard to get. I can find you some silver pretty easily. Titanium will be difficult, very difficult. It’s not normally found in this area, although we might find a little bit of it. Quartz might be quite difficult to get a hold of, but we could always do some trading with some Realm Traders for it, I hear quartz is quite abundant in the Nether.” Lewis looked at Simon quizzically.

“The Nether?”

“You’ve not heard of the Nether?” Lewis shook his head, a bemused expression on his face. Simon sighed, pushing his helmet up slightly as he rubbed his forehead. “Well, spaceman, let me educate you. The Nether is one of the realms that exists in the world. I’ve never been there myself, but I’ve heard about it. It’s supposed to be full of lava and monsters and some rare ores. The only people who really go to the Nether are Realm Traders who gather the resources from there and sell them on here, usually for quite a hefty price. Of course the Nether isn’t the only realm, but it still has some pretty useful resources in it.”

“So how do you get to the Nether? Could we just go there ourselves to get the quartz?” Simon shook his head.

“It’s not that easy, spaceman, and unless you have experience in making portals, it’s not going to happen. Portals to other realms require magic, and being a dwarf, I have no magic skill at all. And besides, it’s not a nice place there. It hasn’t earned the nickname ‘Hell’ for nothing.” Lewis frowned again as he thought.

“Well, then we’ll need some money or something to trade so we can get hold of some quartz.” Simon grinned.

“Leave that to me, spaceman.” He said. “But let’s get down in this cave, we’ve been standing around with these torches burning for far too long.” Simon turned and headed down into the darkness of the cave for the second time that day. Lewis paused at the entrance to the cave, and swallowed his fear before he followed the dwarf down into the inky depths. 

The pair were quiet as they descended down into the earth, the only sound coming from their feet against the rock and occasionally the quiet echoing drip of water. Every so often Simon would glance back at Lewis and make sure he was coping alright and although he seemed on edge, he seemed much calmer than on his first trip down into the caves. They headed deeper and deeper, the tunnels getting narrower and more cramped and as Lewis had to crouch more and more, he felt panic beginning to stir within him. But suddenly the tunnel they were walking along opened up into a large cavern, stalactites  stretching down from the cavern roof to touch the stalagmites growing up from the floor. The cavern walls were covered in the same calcite deposits, running down almost like pillars. The flames from the torches threw large dramatic shadows around the cavern and from the far side of the cavern the pair could hear the trickling of water. Lewis gasped as he stared in awe around the room, for a moment completely forgetting he was underground as he took in the natural beauty all around him. Simon grinned up at Lewis as he watched the man’s reaction; the same reaction that the young dwarves had when they first saw something like this. Eventually Lewis snapped out of his awe and looked down at Simon.

“So? Where now, friend?” Simon gestured around the cavern.

“Here! There’s lots of minerals in the rocks here, spaceman, and all we have to do is dig them up!” Lewis was surprised for a moment. 

“Oh? Alright, where should I start?” Simon guided Lewis over to a section of wall that hadn’t been covered in calcite and pointed out a patch of red streaky rock.

“There’s some iron here, dig that out. I’ll be on the other side of the cavern, shout when you’ve got it all.” Lewis nodded and rested his torch against a rock before lifting up his pickaxe as Simon walked over to the other side of the cavern and inspected the wall briefly before he raised his own pickaxe and the pair started digging away, the air filled with the loud clanging and ringing of metal hitting stone over and over.

After what seemed like hours of hacking away at the stone in front of him, breaking off chunks of the the iron rich rock, Lewis had finally extracted all the iron from the wall. He sighed, placing his pickaxe down on the ground before he turned and looked around the cavern. On the floor in the middle of the cavern was an already sizeable pile of ores and minerals that Simon had collected, and the dwarf was busy mining away at a different part of the cave from where he’d started. Lewis also noticed the burnt out torch lying beside a fresh torch that Simon had replaced while he’d been busy digging. Lewis was surprised to discover that he’d been so wrapped up in digging, that he’d forgotten he was far underneath the surface of the earth surrounded by rock on each side. And now he’d stopped, he was too exhausted to let any feelings of panic take a hold of him. 

“Hey, friend.” Lewis called out to Simon, his voice echoing in the large cavern. The ringing of the pickaxe suddenly stopped as Simon turned to look towards Lewis and the silence felt overwhelmingly oppressive having grown used to the constant noise. “How long have we been down here for?” Simon leant against his pickaxe and thought for a moment, glancing over at the pile of resources in the centre of the room.

“Well… based on what I’ve already mined, probably something like 6 or 7 hours.” He walked over towards the pile and Lewis walked over to meet him, picking up the torch to carry with him. 

“So it was some time after midday when we came back down again, right?” Simon nodded.

“Yep.”

“So it’ll be getting quite late now.” Simon nodded again.

“We should probably head back up. We can carry up the most important things, but leave the rest down here to get later.” It  was Lewis’s turn to nod now and he looked over apprehensively at the small tunnel that had led them into the cavern, remembering how tight it had been on the way down. He took a deep breath to steady himself and turned back to Simon. Meanwhile the dwarf had already started packing his sack from the pile of resources in front of him. Simon quickly packed the sack as full as he could carry it and tucked his pickaxe in his belt before he went and grabbed his torch from the other side of the cave.

“Alright, friend, lead the way.” Lewis said, slightly nervously as Simon returned to where Lewis was, picking up the sack and swinging it over his shoulder.

“Don’t you worry, spaceman, we’ll be out of here in no time.” He said, grinning. Lewis smiled slightly back at Simon and then he turned away and headed into the small dark tunnel that lead back to the surface. 

Surprisingly, Lewis found the trip back up to the surface more difficult than it had been going down and as a result they had to stop so that he could calm down a little. And when they finally reached the surface, Lewis found it no easier as the forest around them was dark and filled with shadows. The sky that was peaking through the branches of the trees wasn’t completely dark yet, there was still quite a lot of light in the sky and only one or two stars had started to appear, but underneath the thick canopy everything was already shrouded in darkness. Lewis clutched his torch closer as he stared out at the darkness around him, wishing that they hadn’t stayed down in the cave for so long, wishing that it was still light, that he could still see the sun. From behind him came the loud clattering sound of Simon placing the sack down on the ground and Lewis turned to face the dwarf, his eyes glowing ever so slightly. Simon quickly noticed that Lewis was still rather distressed.

“Let’s get this fire burning again, shall we?” Simon said, walking over to the fire pit, collecting branches and twigs as he went. Lewis slowly nodded and followed after Simon, grabbing a couple of sticks himself. 

Simon quickly built up the branches and twigs in the fire pit before he lit them with his torch and as the fire caught hold, the surrounding area was lit up with the comforting yellow glow and as the darkness shrank back and more of the forest became visible to the pair, Lewis relaxed, reminding himself that he was no longer underground, that he was safe in the trees. Lewis gently sat himself down by the fire, letting the warm glow calm and relax him further and when Simon had collected a few more branches, he plonked himself down beside Lewis, sighing as he stretched his arms out over his head.

“Well. I’d say we had a good day digging, wouldn’t you?” Simon looked up at Lewis who was working his torch into the ground beside him.

“Well I’m not sure how much we managed to dig today, but I’m pretty sure it was more than I thought we could get.” He smiled at Simon who’s face lit up as he beamed.

“Dwarves are the best miners on earth and I like to think that I’m one of the best.” He replied, puffing his chest up proudly as he continued grinning. “And you did pretty well yourself, spaceman. Considering you’re not a dwarf.” Simon smirked and elbowed Lewis who chuckled slightly. Just then, Lewis’s stomach rumbled loudly, reminding both of them how hungry they both were and how far away their little camp was. Lewis glanced at Simon before he looked out into the dark trees.

“I’m guessing you left all the food back near the spaceship, right, friend?” Simon nodded.

“Yep. It’s not far though. And we still have plenty of torches.” Lewis drew a deep breath and pulled his torch out of the ground before standing up.

“Well, I suppose we should get going before it gets any darker…” He glanced up through the branches into the sky. Already more stars had appeared in the rapidly darkening sky and a small frown crossed over his face. Simon pulled himself to his feet, stretching again.

“Let me just put out this fire, we don’t want to wake up tomorrow surrounded by fire and flames.” Simon moved over to the fire pit and started stamping down the flames with no apparent thought to his safety.

“Careful, friend! Don’t get burnt!” Lewis called out as he watched Simon’s reckless behaviour. Simon grinned mischievously up at Lewis as he stamped out the rest of the fire, leaving only glowing embers.

“Don’t you worry, spaceman. I’m tougher than a couple of little flames.” He grabbed hold of his torch and eyed the sack still filled with the ores and things they’d mined before deciding to leave it there. It’s not like they were near anyone who would come along and steal it. “Alright, let’s get going. It shouldn’t take us too long to get back, and once we’re back we can get some good grub inside us.” 

Simon set off through the trees with Lewis following close behind. To Lewis the forest seemed completely different at night than it had durning the day and he found he recognised very little as they walked through the tall dark trees. It was a pleasant surprise for him then, to suddenly catch sight of their little camp, all their stuff just where they’d left it. Simon rekindled the fire in the camp as Lewis gathered some extra branches from the surrounding area. As he returned, Simon looked up at Lewis.

“Well, let’s see about getting some food, eh, spaceman?” He grinned at Lewis for a moment, but then his gaze shifted to something behind where Lewis was standing and he grabbed his pickaxe. “Lewis, move!” Simon shouted loudly, rushing forward and knocking Lewis to the side as he swung his pickaxe at something lurking in the darkness.

Lewis tumbled to the floor as Simon rushed past him, and behind him he could hear loud growls and yelps as Simon shouted, stringing together profanities and curses. Lewis twisted around on the ground to see what was happening and caught sight of Simon fighting a large grey-black wolf, fangs bared as it growled loudly, it’s yellow eyes staring straight at the dwarf as he faced it, his pickaxe gripped firmly in his hand. The wolf lunged at Simon and he swung at it’s head, his pickaxe catching the wolf on its muzzle, drawing blood as it howled in pain, backing away slowly. The wolf’s yellow gaze flicked between Simon and Lewis as it continued backing away slowly; it obviously wasn’t interested in food it had to fight for. Once it was far enough from Simon, the wolf straightened itself, shook out it’s fur and trotted off into the darkness, something golden glinting in it’s ear as it turned. Lewis and Simon were silent for a few moments, Simon breathing hard as he leant on his pickaxe. Eventually Lewis sat himself up, absently brushing some of the dirt from his clothes as he looked over at Simon.

“That was a wolf, right?” Simon nodded, still leaning on his pickaxe. “Well, thank you for saving me, friend.” Simon pushed himself off his pickaxe and turned to look at Lewis.

“That’s alright. But it does make me think that you need something to protect yourself with, spaceman.”  Simon walked over to his pack and took his sword that was resting by it before handing it over to Lewis. “It’s not the best sword, and I can make you a better one, but for now it should do the trick.” Lewis took the sword from Simon, slightly gingerly. 

“Thanks, friend, but don’t you need it?” Simon grinned as he shook his head.

“Did you watch me just then? I’m better at using my pickaxe when it comes to fighting, and besides, my pickaxe is better than that sword.” Lewis raised his eyebrows as he smiled.

“There’s only one problem with this, friend. I’m not sure how to use it…” Simon waved his hand dismissively in the air as he returned to his pack and started rooting around in it for food.

“Eh, that’s not an issue. I can teach you how to use it. But not tonight. Grub first.” Simon pulled some dried meat out of his pack and tossed it over to Lewis who just managed to catch it, dropping the sword to the ground as he did so. Simon sat down in front of the fire with his own food and Lewis shuffled himself closer, glancing warily behind him to make sure that the wolf wasn’t still lurking in the darkness. 

The pair fell into silence as they ate, Lewis occasionally glancing around at the darkness, like he was expecting the wolf to come leaping back out at them. When Simon had finished eating he sighed loudly, leaning back against a tree and placing his arms behind his head. 

“You know what we should buy, Lewis?” Lewis glanced up at Simon. “Some dwarven beer. Nothing beats a pint of good old dwarven beer after a day of digging.” Simon grinned over at Lewis who smiled slightly.

“Well, if we had any money I’m sure we could get some somewhere.” Simon’s grin widened.

“Oh don’t you worry, we’ll have some money before too long.” Simon closed his eyes and started whistling a tune as Lewis finished off the rest of his food. After he’d finished it he leant up against a tree like Simon.

“Hey, friend.” Simon stopped whistling and looked over at Lewis. “I thought I saw something golden on that wolf’s ear before it left. What do you think that was?”

“That was a moon charm.” Lewis frowned over at Simon.

“A moon charm? What’s one of those?”

“You’ve heard of werewolves, right?” Lewis frowned for a moment.

“I think I might’ve heard stories, they’re people who turn into wolves on a full moon right?” 

“Kinda. Werewolves will turn into wolves on a full moon if they haven’t got a moon charm, which is what that wolf was wearing.”

“So he wasn’t a wolf, he was a werewolf?” Simon nodded. “But if he’s a human when he’s not a wolf, why did he attack us?” Simon exhaled loudly as he thought for a moment.

“I’ve only basically explained werewolves to you, partly because I don’t really know anything about them myself. But I have hear of feral werewolves, who are basically werewolves who for some reason or another stop being human and start acting more like wild wolves. And I think that’s what was wrong with that werewolf that attacked us.”

“A feral werewolf? Are there lots of them about?” Simon nodded.

“Quite a few. I heard it’s quite difficult for werewolf packs to keep tabs on every single werewolf, so quite often feral werewolves just roam around freely.”

“Surely that’s dangerous though?”

“Yeah, well the most you can do is be prepared and if you see one, you’re supposed to report it to the nearest pack. Only I don’t know where the nearest pack is to us, so I’m afraid this werewolf will be going unreported.” Lewis was about to reply when a yawn cut him off and Simon grinned over at him. “Feeling a bit sleepy there, spaceman?” Once Lewis had finished yawning he frowned slightly over at Simon.

“I still don’t know why you keep calling me spaceman.” He muttered slightly. Simon’s grin widened.

“As I explained before. You’re a man who came from space. Spaceman!” He laughed as Lewis frowned at him.

“I really don’t think that that’s the correct use-” Lewis broke off as he yawned again.

“Go get some sleep, Lewis.” Simon said, still grinning at him.

“What about you?” Lewis replied once his yawn had ended.

“I’m not that tired yet. You seem pretty exhausted though, so get to sleep.” Lewis yawned again as he nodded and moved over to the shelter before he crawled inside. Simon started whistling another tune and Lewis quickly fell asleep, curled up inside the shelter.

* * *

 

Simon awoke suddenly as Lewis’s arm slammed into his body and the dwarf jerked up, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he recovered from the shock of being woken up so suddenly. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet but the birds in the trees were singing loudly and a cool mist swirled gently around the tree trunks. A small distressed whimper from Lewis made Simon turn towards him. Lewis was curled up tightly in a ball, his face screwed up as he frowned in his sleep. Every so often, his arms would lash out like he was trying to fight something or someone off, and Simon concluded that this must’ve been what happened to wake him up. However, it was clear that Lewis was having a very unpleasant dream. Simon frowned as he thought for a moment. He didn’t really want to wake Lewis up because he knew that the man desperately needed as much sleep as he could get and if he woke him up, Lewis probably wasn’t going to get back to sleep. After seeing this, Simon was pretty sure that this was the reason why Lewis was waking up at ridiculously early times. And aside from wanting to make sure that Lewis got more sleep, Simon had a couple of selfish reasons too. He still hadn’t woken up fully and he wasn’t really ok with talking about Lewis’s nightmares this early in the morning. 

Simon stretched and yawned as Lewis whimpered again, curling up tighter and once Simon had finished his stretch and yawn, he flopped himself down over Lewis, almost like he was trying to hug the man. Lewis flinched slightly in his sleep, but relaxed soon after. Now that he was almost lying on top of Lewis, Simon could feel his body trembling in his sleep and he knew that whatever dream Lewis was having, it was not pleasant.

“Settle down, spaceman.” Simon mumbled sleepily as he closed his eyes. “ ‘m tryn’a sleep here…” Lewis jerked slightly again and Simon patted him tiredly. “Yep, yep, c’mon settle down.” Slowly Lewis stopped lashing out and the tremors faded from his body and soon he was sleeping peacefully once again. Simon sighed and thought about moving off Lewis but he was almost asleep and he didn’t want to be woken up by another hand to the face.

* * *

 

Lewis’s eyes flickered open for a moment before he closed them again and tried to roll over, but there was something seemingly pinning him down and restricting his movement. He opened his eyes again and sleepily blinked up at the roof of the shelter above him, his tired brain trying to work out why he couldn’t move. There was a loud snore and Lewis glanced down to see Simon half sprawled across his torso, fast asleep. Lewis stared at Simon for a moment before he tried wriggling himself free of the dwarf without disturbing him. Simon moved about and ended up almost hugging onto Lewis’s legs, causing Lewis to sigh as it was clear he wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. So he turned his attention to the outside world. It was a couple of hours after sunrise although it was difficult to tell because a thick layer of cloud covered the sky and rain was pattering gently down through the trees onto the forest floor below. Lewis glanced up at the shelter roof and then back outside, glad that Simon had had the foresight to build a shelter and to build it well enough that it was waterproof. He sighed and leant back, resting his weight on his arms as he gazed out at the rain, the soft rhythmic tapping of the raindrops landing on the ground and the roof above him.

Lewis realised that this was the first time since he had woken up from the crash that he’d really stopped and just relaxed. The rain got heavier as he sat staring out at it, Simon continuing to snore as he slept deeply. Lewis didn’t know why he’d woken up with Simon lying on top of him, but for the first time he hadn’t woken up because of a nightmare. He wasn’t sure if it was because of Simon or because of something else, but he was glad about it. It was about another 20 minutes later when Simon moved enough for Lewis to extract himself from the dwarf’s grip and he shuffled out of the shelter into the rain. Despite the heavy cloud coverage, it wasn’t too cold standing out in the rain and Lewis found it rather refreshing, reminding him that he hadn’t properly washed in a long time. He unzipped his jacket and put it back in the shelter so he would have something dry to put on afterwards and headed towards where the stream was. 

When he reached the stream he took off his shirt, which was plain white with a small black embroidered logo that was present on his jacket too, and tucked it in a small crack in a tree in an attempt to stop it from getting too wet. He then knelt down by the water and started cleaning himself as best he could. The water in the stream, unlike the rain, was cold and Lewis quickly started shivering from the chilling water, but he continued despite the cold. As Lewis started rinsing his hair, his hands touched the bandages that were still on his head and he knelt back, his fingers still resting on the bandage, wondering if he should take it off. He quickly decided that it would be a good idea to take the bandages off and deftly untied them before he unwrapped them and placed them down on the ground beside him before he continued washing himself. 

By the time Lewis had finished washing himself in the stream, he was freezing cold and shivering violently as he stood up and grabbed his shirt, using it to dry himself as best as he could in the pouring rain and headed back to the camp, pulling his shirt on as he went. He arrived at the camp and crawled back into the shelter, pulling his jacket on and zipping it up as he huddled in the still slightly cold but dry shelter. As he sat there and tried warming himself up, Simon rolled over and sat up, blinking slightly as his tired eyes adjusted to the daylight around him. Simon looked over at Lewis and took in his damp cold state.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Simon asked, staring at how cold Lewis seemed. Lewis grinned slightly.

“I went and gave myself a small wash in the stream.” He replied, still shivering. Simon glanced out at the rain.

“You went and plunged yourself in a cold river while it was raining?”

“Well, not quite like that,”

“You numpty.” Simon shook his head. “Well you need to get warmed up somehow, and the only way we’ll get a fire lit in this rain is if we have something to shelter it with.” He looked out at the heavy rain and then back at Lewis. “Building a bigger shelter should warm you up a little and then when we have a fire going, that’ll dry you out as well. Come on, spaceman, let’s get started before you freeze to death.”

Simon clambered out of the shelter and stood in the rain waiting for Lewis. Lewis didn’t really fancy going back out into the rain, especially considering how cold he was, but he knew it would be quicker to get a fire going with both of them working on it and besides, he would feel guilty if he left Simon to do all the work. So slightly reluctantly he crawled out of the shelter and stood by Simon, still shivering slightly as the rain began to soak into his jacket. The pair then headed into the forest to gather what they needed, with Simon doing most of the heavy lifting and Lewis constructing the materials that Simon got into a larger and sturdier shelter that partially protected the fire pit they had from the rain. Obviously they couldn’t completely cover the fire or they’d be choked by the smoke, but they managed to construct a shelter that would keep the fire dry and draw most of the smoke away from them. Two large branches had been leant up against a couple of nearby trees and the sides and the top had been covered in branches and leaves, like how their first shelter had been made. By the time they had finished, both Simon and Lewis were completely soaked and Lewis was still shivering as Simon took the driest wood they’d been able to find and built up the fire, protecting it from the damp ground by raising it up a little. He cursed as the fire kept refusing to light, but eventually the flames caught hold and Lewis sighed in relief as the warmth of the flames reached him. Simon stood back from the fire and looked at Lewis.

“Get yourself warmed up and dried off, spaceman, I’m going to get some more wood to dry out and check the traps I set a couple of days ago… that’s if nothing has eaten whatever has been caught…” Lewis nodded as he moved closer to the fire, peeling off his wet jacket and hanging it up on a stick that had been shoved into the ground as Simon headed back out into the rain. 

It wasn’t long before Simon returned, a stack of wood clutched under one arm and a couple of small rabbits in his other hand. Once he was inside the shelter, he dumped the wood down in a corner, close enough to the fire that they could begin to dry out without getting rained on and then sat himself down beside Lewis. Lewis was still fairly damp and shivering but he was beginning to warm up as the fire continued burning brightly. Simon set about skinning the rabbits as he began to dry out himself, the rain still pattering down around them.

“It doesn’t look like this rain’s going to be stopping any time soon…” Lewis commented after a few minutes of silence. Simon glanced up from what he was doing and looked out at the rain.

“Nope. We might not be able to go digging for a while either.” Lewis frowned slightly at Simon.

“Why not, friend?” Simon shrugged.

“Well, caves are formed by water rushing through the rock, and it’s not unusual for them to suddenly fill up with water. I’d especially expect that from the cavern we were in, because of all those stalactites and there was a small underground river at one end of it too. It’d be best not to go down into that particular cave until the rain stops.” Lewis nodded.

“Alright. Then what do we do while it’s raining?”

“I can work on making a small forge and we can both work on making this shelter more permanent. And we could always try to find the nearest town to get some extra supplies.” Lewis smiled absently into the fire.

“Sounds like a plan, friend.” They both fell into a companionable silence as the rain continued to fall.

The silence that they fell into didn’t last long before Simon strung the now skinned rabbits up and sticking his hands out into the rain washed most of the blood from himself before he turned back to Lewis who was watching him.

“You’d better clean your hands more carefully than that when you get around to cooking those rabbits.” Lewis commented. Simon grinned as he dried his hands on his trousers.

“Who says I’ll be cooking them?” Lewis was about to reply when he suddenly frowned and closed his mouth.

“Good point.” Simon laughed. He glanced out at the rain and then back at Lewis who was still rather damp and still occasionally shivering. He shrugged and sat down with his back against a tree.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Simon asked gazing into the fire. Lewis followed his gaze.

“I’m not sure… I mean if I’m honest, I really don’t fancy going out in the rain again…” Simon snorted. Lewis frowned over at the dwarf.

“I’m not surprised.” 

“So I suppose there isn’t a plan for today.” Lewis continued, ignoring Simon’s comment. Silence fell over the pair again. Simon glanced over at the cut on Lewis’s forehead. The skin around the cut was red but it didn’t seem to be infected. Although from this distance Simon couldn’t quite tell.

“Oi, spaceman,” Lewis glanced up at Simon in surprise. “Let me check that cut on your head.” Lewis glanced up slightly as if he almost expected to see it, then reached up with his hand and touched it gingerly.

“It feels alright to me, friend. It doesn’t seem to be hurting.” 

“I’m going to take a look at it anyway. Besides, I had to stitch it up and depending on how it’s doing, I might take the stitches out.” Simon made to move towards Lewis who suddenly glanced at Simon’s hands.

“Wash your hands first though! I don’t want rabbit blood getting into my blood!” Simon paused and glanced down at his hands before smirking and waggling his fingers at Lewis.

“Are you sure, spaceman? Are you sure you don’t want some tasty rabbit blood all over you?” Lewis snorted as he backed off from Simon. “Are you sure, Lewis?”

“Stop pissing about and go wash your hands!” Lewis said, still backing off from Simon, and trying his hardest not to laugh. Simon giggled before stood up and stretched.

“I’ll be back soon, spaceman. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” 

“Pff.” 

Lewis watched as Simon stepped out into the rain and disappeared as he headed towards the stream. He sighed as he relaxed and straightened out his legs, turning his gaze back to the fire. Absently his hand reached up and traced over the cut on his forehead. He could feel the bumps where the stitches were and pressing on the cut sent twinges of pain shooting through it. He winced and pulled his hand away slightly. Lewis sighed thoughtfully as he lowered his hand back down. He had barely thought about this, but he was grateful for what Simon had done for him after the crash. The dwarf had been so kind to him without even knowing him, and he hadn’t really asked for anything in return either. Sure he wanted to go to the moon, but Lewis could tell that that hadn’t been the primary reason why Simon had helped him out. Even now the dwarf was still looking after him when they were down in the caves and Lewis was struggling to cope. Lewis sighed again, although this time he wasn’t aware that he had sighed. A few moments later Simon reappeared, water dripping from his beard as he stepped out of the rain and into the dryness of their shelter. Lewis glanced up in surprise as he was broken out of his deep thoughts.

“You’re looking a little damp around the edges now, friend.” Lewis said, grinning as he looked up at Simon grinned back.

“But I can deal with a little bit of rain, unlike you.” Simon laughed as Lewis quietly mumbled under his breath. “Come here, spaceman, and let’s take a look at that cut.” Simon stood beside Lewis who obligingly held still while the dwarf carefully inspected the injury, only flinching away when he pressed slightly too hard. “Sorry…” Simon murmured as he continued inspecting it. After a few moments, Simon went over to his pack and pulled out a small knife which he then used to cut the stitches and pulled them out. Lewis made a face as the stitches were pulled out, the thread rubbing against his skin feeling uncomfortable and slightly odd. Simon chucked the thread onto the fire as he straightened up.

“Well it’s healing well enough at the moment. Although avoid knocking it now that I’ve taken the stitches out.” Lewis nodded and reached up with his hand once more and traced his fingers over the cut, the scab raised and lumpy.

“Thank you, friend.” Simon shrugged as he sat himself down. 

“It’s not a problem.”

“I really mean it. Thank you for doing all this for me, especially when you have no need to.” Lewis looked over at Simon, sincerity clear in his voice. Simon looked slightly uncomfortable and he waved his hands in the air slightly. He wondered if Lewis was saying this because he knew that Simon had helped him last night with his nightmare, but quickly dismissed the thought.

“Like I said, it’s not a problem. You needed help and I was the only one around to help. So I helped.” Lewis smiled and looked away.

“Just know that I appreciate it, friend.”

“ ’s alright, spaceman.” 

The rain started growing heavier outside as the conversation turned to lighter things. Lewis asked Simon of his dwarven home and Simon asked Lewis about space. They cooked the rabbits and ate some, saving the rest for another day. The skies grew darker quickly from the thick clouds overhead as the pair started joking around, laughing and telling each other jokes and entertaining stories. In the distance there was a gentle rumble from thunder but neither one noticed it as they laughed with each other in the glow of the fire. Eventually Lewis started nodding off and he sleepily crawled into their original shelter, curling up as he drifted off to sleep. Simon remained awake, staring into the fire as the rain pattered gently outside, for the first time not missing his home as he thought back on the day of laughter and conversation with Lewis. As the night continued Lewis began stirring as a nightmare gripped hold of him and so Simon went and sat next to him, gazing into the fire from a distance. And eventually, he fell asleep too as the rain continued falling and the fire slowly burnt down to embers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how well this chapter works, I might go back at a later date and rewrite this section...


	4. Prologue 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is a week late, I have had such a hard time writing this for a number of reasons.  
> This chapter is a little shorter than normal but it wouldn't make sense for me to continue writing because what happens next really deserves to be in its own chapter.
> 
> Also, I also added some extra bits to the end of Chapter 3 and while they're not important to plot, it makes the whole thing flow better, so maybe go check it out?

Lewis wasn’t particularly happy at Simon’s suggestion that he started learning how to fight today. After all, it was still raining and after yesterday he really didn’t fancy getting soaked again. But Simon had persuaded Lewis that it was better to practice in the rain, firstly so that neither of them would get too hot; the rain would keep them cool as they practiced, and secondly they weren’t likely going to do anything else that day. So Lewis had grudgingly agreed. And now they were both stood outside in the rain, Simon holding out his pickaxe and Lewis gripping tightly to the sword that Simon had given him. The rain was just as heavy as it had been yesterday and while yesterdays rain had started out refreshing, by this point Lewis just found it cold and miserable.

“You’re pretty good at this, y’know.” Simon said, encouragingly as he wiped rain from his face. Lewis smiled but it was more like a grimace. Simon grinned back at him. “But you know what they say, practice makes perfect.” Simon readied himself into a defensive stance.

“They also say there’s no such thing as perfection.” Lewis mumbled under his breath. But he also readied himself into a defensive stance and the pair slowly started circling each other. 

Despite complaining about this whole situation, Lewis was focussing on the task at hand, an almost determined expression on his face as he carefully watched Simon’s movements, waiting for a moment where he could strike. Simon’s guard dropped for a moment and Lewis lunged forward, striking hard and fast towards the dwarf. Simon brought up his pickaxe in time to block Lewis’s strike and the pair backed off from each other for a moment before returning and swinging their weapons towards the other. The clang of metal on metal rang through the trees as they fought. And although Simon was good at using his pickaxe to fight, very good in fact, it was becoming more and more clear to the dwarf that Lewis was a much better fighter. Lewis had claimed that he didn’t know how to use as sword but as the two parried and blocked each other’s blows, Simon began wondering if Lewis had been taught to fight, and then forgotten that he’d been taught after the accident. After all, fighting with a sword seemed to come so quickly to Lewis, slightly too quickly to be just naturally good at fighting.

Both Lewis and Simon were breathing hard from the exertion as their fight continued, although as Simon had promised the rain was keeping them cool. However the rain was also making the ground under their feet muddier and more slippery as their feet continued to churn up the dirt and as Simon swung at Lewis, he slipped on the ground. Lewis was swinging his sword to Simon and although he noticed the dwarf tumble down, he wasn’t able to slow his sword in time and the blade sliced through Simon’s arm, drawing blood. Simon gasped in pain, skidding to a stop in the mud as he knelt, placing his pickaxe down to place his hand over the injury. Lewis dropped his sword to the ground and knelt down by Simon, worry clearly written on his face.

“Simon! Friend! Are you alright?! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Simon took his hand away from the cut momentarily to flap it at Lewis, causing him to fall silent. Red blood was trickling down his arm, mingling in with the rain.

“I’m alright. It’d take more than that to take me down properly. I just wasn’t expecting it that’s all.” Simon said. He squinted up at Lewis through the rain. “You’re a bit too good with that sword to just be a beginner, you know.” He chuckled slightly. Lewis frowned slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“Only that no beginner is that good when it comes to fighting.” Simon lifted his hand to wave it in the air, dismissing the matter. “But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I think you’ll probably be able to hold your own against anything that comes to attack you.” He grinned. Lewis was still frowning, looking at Simon in concern.

“That really doesn’t matter now, friend. Come on, we need to sort you out.” 

Lewis helped Simon to his feet before he grabbed his sword and Simon’s pickaxe. Once Lewis had picked them up, the pair headed the short distance back to their little camp. Once out of the rain, Lewis started bustling about, laying the sword and pickaxe to one side and quickly getting a fire going as Simon sat down with his back against a tree, his hand still pressed tightly to the cut in an effort to stop the bleeding. The fire began to burn, warming the pair and Lewis turned to Simon, concern still clear in his face.

“Alright, let me have a look, friend.” Simon rolled his eyes but moved his hand away from the cut as Lewis knelt down beside him. Blood was still slowly seeping out from the wound but a quick inspection revealed that it was rather shallow. Lewis sighed slightly in relief. 

“Well I’m pretty sure my arm’s not going to drop off.” Simon commented as Lewis knelt back, reaching for Simon’s pack. 

“Simon, I might’ve really hurt you.” Lewis replied, although there was a slight trace of laughter in his voice. Simon grinned. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Lewis tried to frown at Simon but failed, smiling instead. He held out Simon’s pack.

“I don’t suppose you could find any bandages for me?” Simon wiped most of the blood from his hand before he grabbed hold of the pack and pulled it closer to him. A quick rummage around yielded nothing and he quickly remembered that he’d used the little amount of bandages he had on Lewis when he’d first found him. He pushed the pack away slightly and looked up at Lewis.

“I don’t have any left. I only had a couple to begin with and I used them on you.” Simon grinned mischievously. “Greedy, spaceman.” It was Lewis’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Well maybe we’ll be able to find something on the spaceship. Come on, friend.” 

Both Simon and Lewis clambered to their feet before they headed back out into the rain and headed in the direction of the spaceship. They quickly reached it, the area around it lighter without the canopy of branches overhead blocking what little light came through the clouds.

“Here, Simon, I’ll give you a boost up.” Lewis said, linking his fingers together to create a step for Simon to climb up on. Simon placed his foot in Lewis’s hands and steadied himself against the spaceship as Lewis hoisted Simon up so he could easily clamber into the spaceship without using his injured arm too much. Lewis pulled himself in afterwards and found Simon staring at a young man who appeared to be pulling apart the console.

The young man had long blond hair that was slightly damp from the rain and while it had been drying had frizzed out slightly. He was rather skinny and looked like he hadn’t eaten properly in a few weeks. His skin was pale, like it hadn’t seen sunlight in a long time. He was wearing a pair of old faded denim jeans and an equally old black t-shirt and around his neck was a pair of green goggles; the only article of clothing he wore that seemed looked after despite the occasional scorch marks that could be seen on the plastic. 

“Hey!” Simon called out and the young man turned, startled. Now that he was facing the pair, it became clear that he was still probably just a teenager. He had pale blue eyes and a scruffy half-grown beard.

“What the hell? Who are you? What are you doing here?” Lewis asked, staring at the young man.

“Uh…” He glanced about the spaceship awkwardly, obviously looking for a way out. Finding none he looked back at Lewis and Simon. “Well, why are you here?” He asked, folding his arms and trying to appear tough. Simon and Lewis glanced at each other.

“This is our spaceship, friend.” Lewis frowned over at the console. “And you appear to be dismantling it.” The young man glanced behind him at the console, shuffling to the side to try and hide it from view.

“Your spaceship? If it’s yours then how come it looks abandoned? And I wasn’t dismantling it. I was, I was going to repurpose some of the electronics.”

“Repurpose? Sounds a lot like stealing if you ask me.” Simon said, eyeing the young man suspiciously who shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze.

“Look, I thought this thing was abandoned and I thought I might as well take some of the electronics, or at least see what it has in it, alright? I didn’t know it belonged to you guys.” He said defensively, refusing to look either of them in the eye. Lewis felt a pang of sympathy for him. Despite being younger than them, he was only a couple of years younger and clearly felt rather awkward about this whole situation

“Alright. Admittedly we haven’t really made it very clear that this is our spaceship and that it’s not just been abandoned.” Lewis moved away from the door and picked up the medical box before he gestured for Simon to come over to him and glanced over at the young man. “So, friend, what’s your name?”

“Lalnable.” He muttered quietly. There was a long pause. “What about you?”

“I’m Lewis and this is Simon.” Lewis had found some bandages in the medical box and he started drying off Simon’s cut. “So why were you walking through the woods?” Lalnable shrugged.

“No reason.”

“How old are you anyway?” Simon asked, peering around Lewis as he stuck a bandage down on the cut.

“Seventeen.” Lewis finished tending to Simon and turned to face Lalnable.

“And you understand things like complex electronics?” He shrugged again.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not that complicated.” Lewis was impressed, that was if Lalnable was actually telling the truth. Lalnable eyed the pair more closely now that some of the tension had left. The air between them was still highly awkward though. “You look like you’ve both been rolling around in the mud.” Lewis looked down at himself and sure enough he was covered in dirt and rain, coming together to form a rather thick layer of mud over his clothes. Beside him Simon also glanced down at his mud-splattered torso and grinned.

“Well you’re not far wrong. I was training this lanky spaceman here to use a sword.” Lalnable frowned.

“Training him to use a sword? Why not just use a gun or something like that? And why the fuck would you train in the rain?”

“Training in the rain wasn’t my idea.” Lewis muttered, glaring out at the rain that was still pouring down heavily. Simon walked over to Lalnable and elbowed him in the legs.

“Well, you see, we don’t have many supplies at the moment, and we certainly don’t have any weapons like guns.” Lalnable just raised his eyebrows, almost like he couldn’t quite believe that they didn’t have any weapons better than swords.

“But, but you have a spaceship! How do you not have a gun? Or a laser or something?” Lewis and Simon both looked at each other and shrugged. 

“We just don’t.” Lewis supplied, still shrugging. 

An awkward silence fell again and Lalnable shuffled around, glancing behind him at the partially dismantled console. 

“So…” Lewis said after the silence grew too awkward to bear. “I don’t suppose you live anywhere nearby, do you? Only, it would be nice to have a shower; as you pointed out we’re a little dirty and could do with a wash. And it’d be nice to have a proper sleep too.” Lalnable looked slightly awkward and Lewis was suddenly reminded that he was talking to a teenager. “Not that that means you have to tell us where you live, or even let us go there, I mean we still are strangers and I’m sure that you might not feel comfortable letting us know where you live or anything like that, friend!” He blurted out, slight traces of panic in his voice. Simon suddenly burst out laughing, bending over and leaning on his knees as he wheezed. Both Lewis and Lalnable stared at him.

“God, you sounded so worried there, Lewis, like you though he’d mistake us for kidnappers or something!” Simon managed to gasp out once his laughter had subsided a little. At that, Lalnable chuckled slightly as Lewis’s cheeks went slightly red.

“I mean I’m not really worried about being kidnapped or anything like that, I mean, looking at you,” he gestured towards Lewis, “you look like I could beat you up without a problem.” He glanced down at Simon. “And I’ve never fought a dwarf before but I reckon I’d be able to put up a pretty good fight.” 

Simon was still laughing too hard to properly form any kind of response to defend the honour of people. Lewis seemed to relax slightly as he realised that Lalnable didn’t really see either of them as a threat. Simon was beginning to calm down, and he was straightening up, wiping a couple of tears from his eyes. 

“But you do look like you need cleaning up, so I guess I could show you my castle.” Both Lewis and Simon stared at Lalnable.

“Castle?!” They exclaimed in unison.

“Yeah. Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

Lalnable moved towards the door and jumped down, disappearing from sight. Simon and Lewis looked at each other in confusion before Simon shrugged and moved towards the door after Lalnable.

“Well I guess we’ll never know what he means unless we follow him.”

* * *

 

The walk to Lalnable’s castle took a shorter amount of time than either Lewis or Simon expected, and it explained why Lalnable had stumbled across their spaceship so easily. However, the term ‘castle’ was a slight over exaggeration as Lalnable’s home came into view. Rather than being a large towering castle with turrets and battlements, instead they found themselves staring at an old stone manor house, ivy clambering over most of the walls. It was two stories high and looked rather ominous in the dark grey daylight with the rain pouring down. No light was coming from any of the windows and both Simon and Lewis felt a shiver of apprehension as they drew into the shadow of the building. The front door was a large wooden door and as Lalnable approached it, they expected him to pull out a key, however he just stepped up to the door, lifted the latch and walked right inside. Despite the slightly unnerving feeling the manor house gave them, the pair were eager to get out of the rain and quickly stepped inside. Lalnable pushed the door closed behind them with a bang and flipped a switch on the wall, turning on the lights. 

The hallway that they found themselves in was rather impressive with double staircases winding up to a balcony on the second floor that overlooked the entrance hallway. There was a large thick rug that stretched across the span of the hallway and an overly decadent chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a warm yellow light over the room. There were doors off to each side of the hallway, all closed and hiding whatever was in the rooms on the other sides. Despite the grandeur of the hallway, there was an air of neglect about the place with thick layers of dust coating most of the available surfaces. Simon whistled as he looked around.

“I mean, this isn’t exactly a castle, but it’s not to shabby at all.” Lalnable grinned as he walked so he was in front of the pair and looked at them.

“Nah, I know it’s not actually a castle, but that’s what I’ve always called it from when I was little.” He gestured over to the stairs. “There’s rooms and bathrooms and stuff upstairs if you want me to show you.” Lewis nodded eagerly.

“That would be great, friend. We’d really appreciate that.” Simon nodded along with Lewis.

“Yep, although I don’t particularly mind dirt, it’d be nice to get myself warm and dry.” Lalnable nodded and headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time with his long legs. 

“Yeah alright. Come on this way and I’ll show you.” 

Lewis and Simon followed after him, Simon having to almost run to keep up with the other two, grumbling quietly about humans all being stupidly tall and how you didn’t have to be tall to get things done and being short was just as good, if not better than being tall because then you didn’t hit your head on things. Lalnable turned left down a corridor at the top of the stairs, flicking more light switches as he went. He stopped at a door and opened it up, revealing inside a rather lavish bedroom with a large double bed, covered in cream sheets, and a beautiful wooden dresser along the left hand wall. Opposite the dresser was a doorway and in the middle of the room, there was a large sheepskin rug over the dark blue carpet. Lalnable gestured into the room.

“This is one room, the bathroom’s just through that door.” 

He started heading along the corridor again, leaving the door to the bedroom open, Lewis and Simon trailing behind him after having had a good look into the room. Lalnable stopped at the next door down the corridor and opened it up. This bedroom was just as nicely furnished as the first one, however it was painfully clear that someone had been living in it and hadn’t really cared about what it looked like. Dirty clothes were scattered across the floor and the dresser had draws pulled completely out. The bedsheets looked clean but were half on the floor and the bin sat beside a desk which was in the far left corner of the room was overflowing, mostly with scrunched up pieces of paper. The desk itself was buried beneath a mound of paper and resting precariously on top of the mound was a laptop. Lalnable went into the room and started collecting up clothes off the floor, shoving them unceremoniously into drawers.

“This is my room, but one of you can use it. I mean I mostly sleep on the sofa anyway.” Simon elbowed Lewis, grinning mischievously.

“Hey, Lewis, I bagsy the other room.” 

“Simon.” Lewis frowned disapprovingly down at the dwarf but didn’t say any more to him. “Are you sure it’s ok for us to use this room?” Lalnable shrugged. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. I really don’t use it all that much anyway.”

“Who uses the other room?” Simon asked curiously.

“That was my parent’s room, but they died so it doesn’t get used any more.” Lewis and Simon looked at each other awkwardly. 

“Ah…”

“Oh, we’re sorry, friend.” Lalnable shrugged.

“It’s not an issue. It happened quite a few years ago now.” He had finished clearing up most of the clothes from the floor and was standing in the middle of the room at a loss of what to do.

“Well… uh, I think I’ll be cleaning myself up.” Lewis looked down at his clothes as he spoke. “I don’t suppose you have any clothes lying around that I could wear? Only I don’t really fancy putting these back on after a shower.” Both Lalnable and Simon grinned.

“You could always try some of mine? But if not there’s always my parent’s old clothes. They might fit you.” Lalnable glanced over at Simon. “Although I’m pretty sure I won’t have any clothes that will fit you, both my parents were pretty tall, and I’m pretty tall too.” Simon shrugged.

“Don’t you worry about me, I’ll sort something out.” 

“Alright. Well, cool, I guess. I’m going downstairs, so just sort yourselves out?” Lalnable awkwardly moved past the pair and out into the hallway. He looked back at the pair, gave them an awkward smile and then disappeared down the corridor.

“Now, I know you claimed the other bedroom, friend, but I just need to see if I can find any clothes that might fit me.” Simon grinned.

“Well, you’d better not take too long about it, spaceman, otherwise I’ll start my shower with you in the room.” Lewis pulled a face as he followed Simon down the corridor back to the first bedroom.

“Oh don’t worry, friend. I’ll be out of there before you can start stripping.”

* * *

 

The skies had turned dark by the time the pair had completed their showers and suitably clothed themselves. Although what Simon counted as suitably clothed wasn’t the same as what Lewis thought suitably clothed. The dwarf was sat on the bed, completely naked aside from a towel wrapped around his lower half. Lewis glared at Simon, his own borrowed clothes hanging awkwardly off him.

“Simon, what the hell?” Simon grinned, swinging his legs as they dangled from the bed.

“What’s the matter, Lewis?” He asked sweetly, grinning up at Lewis.

“A towel?!” Simon flapped his hand in the air.

“It covers the important parts and that’s all that matters, spaceman.” He replied, still grinning. Lewis placed his face in his hand and sighed.

“I just hope that Lalnable cares as little about what you wear as you do.” Simon laughed.

“I think he’ll be pretty impressed with my creative thinking skills.” Lewis snorted.

“Sure thing, friend. Come on, let’s find Lalnable and see if he has any food because I’m starving.” Lewis started walking out of the room and Simon leapt off the bed.

“Now that’s an idea I can get behind.”

The pair found their way back downstairs where they started searching through the rooms on the bottom floor looking for Lalnable. They were both surprised to see that most rooms had been converted into labs and filled with scientific equipment and chemistry sets, and Simon found he had to drag Lewis away from each new room that they found. Lewis was amazed and overly excited by all the high tech scientific equipment in the house and if it hadn’t been for Simon, he would’ve started experimenting with it all there and then. Eventually they found Lalnable in what appeared to be the kitchen, although there were so many dirty pots and pans lying among the paper and other scientific equipment that they weren’t quite sure. There was a large stove on one wall which was supplying the room with warmth. Lalnable was sat hunched over a laptop at a table, frowning at the screen as he typed a couple of things down before rummaging around in a paper stack and pulling out a graph from the middle which sent the rest of the pile toppling to the floor.

“Lalnable?” Lewis asked tentatively as the pair stood in the kitchen. Lalnable jumped and looked up in surprise at them.

“Oh! I’d forgotten you were here.” His eyes slid over to Simon’s towel and he smirked. “Nice towel.”

“Thanks! You see, Lewis? Lalnable has an excellent taste in fashion!” Lewis rolled his eyes and chose to ignore Simon.

“I don’t suppose you have any food? We’d be happy to cook if you don’t want to cook for us.” Lewis asked.

“Speak for yourself, spaceman.” Simon mumbled quietly. “I’m fed up of cooking.”

“Uh, well…” Lalnable ran a hand through his hair awkwardly as he stood up. “I’m pretty sure the only food I have is cereal.” Both Simon and Lewis looked crestfallen as Lalnable headed over to a cupboard and pulled out a box of cereal. “Yeah… this is all I have. But you can have as much of it as you want.” He walked over to them and handed the box out to them. Simon took it from him and peered inside.

“What about you?” Lewis asked as Simon shrugged and shoved his hand into the box and pulled out a handful. Lalnable shrugged.

“I’m not really hungry?” He suggested, not really appearing too confident about his statement. Lewis took the box from Simon as he grabbed another handful and looked into it himself.

“There’s plenty in here for all of us, so we might as well share it out.” Lalnable shrugged again.

“Sure why not. I don’t really have any clean dishes though.”

“We can eat with out hands.” Simon said, mumbling around a mouthful of cereal. 

“Yeah, I mean sit down if you want.” Lalnable returned to where he’d been sitting before as Lewis found another chair and pulled it over to where Lalnable was as Simon sat down crosslegged on the floor.

As the three ate, there was a slight awkward silence, but that quickly melted away as Lewis started talking to Lalnable about all the equipment he owned and the two started talking about things that Simon had never heard of in his life. As their conversation grew more animated, they forgot about the food they’d been eating, leaving Simon to have as much as he wanted, something he considered a fair trade-off for not understanding a word of what they were talking about. Eventually Simon yawned loudly, cutting into their conversation. Lewis glanced at the time on Lalnable’s laptop.

“Christ, it’s got a bit late.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed. Normally I just go to sleep whenever I remember.” Lalnable also looked over at his laptop. Simon yawned again, triggering a yawn from Lewis.

“Well, I’m pretty tired, so I might go get some sleep. Thank you for letting us use your bed and showers, friend.” Lewis got to his feet and stretched. Simon also stood up.

“Eh, it’s nothing.”

“Mm, yep, thanks for all this, Lalnable.” Simon said. “We’ll pay you back somehow. But first I’m exhausted so I’m going to go to sleep.”

“Me too, friend. I guess we’ll see you in the morning then, Lalnable?” Lalnable nodded.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“See you later!” Simon called cheerily as he and Lewis left the kitchen. 

The pair made their way back to the entrance hall and headed up the stairs.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, friend.” Lewis said as Simon opened the door and walked into the bedroom he’d claimed.

“Night, night, spaceman. Sweet dreams!” Simon blew a kiss to Lewis who laughed slightly before he headed down the corridor to the bedroom he had been given.

Mercifully that night sleep was quick coming and it wasn’t long before Lewis was fast asleep, the rain gently pattering against the glass of the window.


	5. Prologue 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure what happened but suddenly the entire week had vanished and I realised (with great horror) that it was Sunday and I hadn't written the next chapter yet. But hey, here we are with a slightly short chapter and I'm very, very tired.

He had to run, he had to keep running! His breath was sawing in his chest and his heart was pounding furiously as he ran, desperate to keep running. He didn’t know what he was running from, only that he had to keep running faster and faster and faster…

With a gasp and a cry, Lewis sat up sharply, the bedclothes tangled around his limbs and his breathing and heart rate as accelerated as they had been in the dream. He swallowed and held his head in his hands, shaking slightly, panic still whirling around his system. He had hoped that the nightmares had stopped, but apparently not. Lewis sighed and looked up towards the window. It was still dark outside and listening carefully, he could hear the quiet rain. A quick glance around the room led Lewis’s eyes to a small digital clock which read 02:36 in green glowing numbers. He sighed again and untangled himself from the bedclothes before he headed over to the bathroom. He switched on the lights and was blinded momentarily as his eyes failed to adjust to the brightness of the lights after the darkness of the rooms. Blinking, Lewis made his way over to the sink where he turned the tap on and let the water run as he leant against the edges. He cupped some water in his hands and splashed it over his face. He did this a couple more times and as he ran his hands down his face, he looked up into the mirror. His eyes were still faintly glowing. Lewis frowned and his reflection frowned back. There had to be some reason for these nightmares… Lewis sighed and looked away, turning the tap off and grabbing a towel and drying his face with it.

Lewis left the bathroom and turned the light off, pausing for a moment as he let his eyes readjust to the darkness. Once his eyes were accustomed to the dark once more, he looked around the room, his gaze coming to stop on the digital clock. The divider between the hour and the minutes blinked on and off at him, the only marker of the constant time that was passing. He tore his gaze away from the clock and went back over to the bed, sitting down on the edge, clasping his hands together and staring down at them. All logic told him he should go back to sleep. If he stayed away now, it’d get to morning and he’d be absolutely exhausted. But he didn’t want to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to have that nightmare again. He didn’t want to wake up covered in a cold sweat and gasping for breath. Lewis hugged his arms around his body tightly and gazed out at the darkness. The pattering of rain against the window grew stronger for a moment as a gust of wind drove the raindrops against the glass. Lewis wondered if Lalnable had any tea; he wanted the comforting warmth of the drink to help calm him down and maybe a cup of tea would help him get back to sleep.

Having made a decision, Lewis got to his feet and made his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. As he passed the room where Simon was sleeping, he could hear the dwarf’s loud snoring and he smiled slightly. At least Simon was getting a good night’s sleep. As Lewis wandered through the quiet rooms, he could hear the wind whistling outside and he began feeling slightly uneasy in this old large quiet house where no one was making a sound and he was all alone. 

“Don’t be stupid, Lewis, nothing’s going to come out of the dark at you.” Lewis murmured quietly to himself as he navigated himself through some dark rooms.

 _‘But what if there’s a ghost in here?’_ A quiet voice in his mind popped up. Lewis tried to laugh but didn’t like the loudness of it in the still quiet of the house and quickly fell silent.

“There’s no such thing as ghosts. Don’t be an idiot.” He replied, trying to bolster his courage. Lewis pushed open a door and found himself in the kitchen. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he switched on the lights, sending the darkness scurrying away.

Lewis began searching through the mostly empty cupboards of the kitchen, eventually coming across a cupboard that held a large jar of coffee and a tin that read ‘TEA’. He reached in and grabbed the tin, pulling it out. It was rather light and Lewis didn’t feel too confident that there would actually be any tee inside it. He pulled off the lid and glanced inside. Much to his surprise, there was one solitary teabag lying forlornly at the bottom of the tin. Lewis smiled slightly as he pulled it out before replacing the lid and setting the tin back in the cupboard. He then turned his attention to mugs. Lying in the sea of dirty crockery and plates, Lewis caught sight of a number of mugs and after inspecting them, he chose the least dirty, taking it over to the sink where he scrubbed it as best he could. Once it was clean-ish, he located the kettle, thankfully clean, and he filled it up and started it boiling, placing the teabag in his chosen mug. 

As the kettle began to boil, the door to the kitchen opened and Lewis looked up in surprise, and a little bit of fear. Lalnable walked tiredly into the kitchen, his long blonde hair sticking up on end as he shuffled around the table and picked a random mug from the pile of dirty dishes. Still having apparently not noticed Lewis, Lalnable opened the cupboard that held the coffee and the single teabag and Lewis hoped he wasn’t going to pull out the tin that had held the tea. Thankfully, Lalnable grabbed the coffee and haphazardly poured some into the mug, spilling a number of the grounds onto the countertop and floor. The kettle clicked off as Lalnable placed the coffee back into the cupboard.

“Hello, friend.” Lewis said, finally deciding to speak up as it became apparent that Lalnable was in a world of his own and still hadn’t noticed Lewis standing there. Shocked, Lalnable glanced up at Lewis for a few seconds before he grabbed his mug and shuffled over to the kettle.

“Hey. Thought you went to sleep?” He mumbled sleepily as he grabbed the kettle and poured it into the mug, only narrowly missing his fingers. Lewis took hold of the kettle after Lalnable put it down and poured the remaining water into his own mug.

“I did. I, uh, woke up again just now and decided I wanted a cup of tea.” Lalnable squinted into the mug.

“I have tea?” Confusion was written all over his face. He had clearly not had tea in a number of months, if not longer.

“Had. You only had one teabag left I’m afraid.” Lalnable shrugged and sat down heavily in a chair before lying his body down on the table.

“Eh, not a problem. I don’t really drink the stuff much anymore.” He yawned. “It’s not as good at keeping me awake as coffee is.” Lewis chuckled quietly and wrapped his hands around the mug as he sipped at the tea. It was still slightly too hot. Lalnable yawned again before propping himself up enough to take a slurp from his mug and then he sank back down onto the table. “D’ya know what time it is?” Lalnable asked through yet another yawn.

“Something like two forty-ish. Probably.” Lewis replied, leaning up against the counter, still hugging the mug with his hands. Silence fell for a moment and Lewis began thinking that Lalnable had fallen asleep, but then he propped himself up to take another drink of his coffee before sliding back down.

“So whad’re’ya doing with that spaceship?” Lalnable murmured, his half open eyes gazing over at Lewis.

“Fixing it.”

“Mm, an’ then?”

“Well, Simon wants to go to the moon, so I guess we’ll be flying it to the moon.” Lewis drank some more of his tea. He still felt slightly uncomfortable about going to space. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been running from something terrible out there.

“That’s pretty cool.” Lalnable sat himself up a bit more and took another slurp; more awake now that the caffeine was starting to kick in. “So it’s just you and Simon working on that thing?” Lewis nodded. 

“Yep. Just us two.” Lalnable glanced down into his mug for a brief moment.

“I don’t suppose you’d want some help. I mean I know quite a lot of stuff, and I’m sure I could help you out. Just I haven’t really done much, uh, socialising in the past few years and while I don’t really feel lonely cause I’m mostly just working, you know, but I was thinking that you guys seem nice and maybe I should try to, you know, get out more?” Lalnable’s words were still slow and slightly mumbled as he was still fighting off the tiredness. Lewis stared at him for a moment.

“Well, I don’t see why not.” He shrugged. Of course Simon would have to agree to it too, but Lewis was pretty sure that the dwarf wouldn’t mind another friend joining their little group. “I mean, I could probably do with some help with some of the more technical stuff, and you seem like you know quite a lot about science.” Lalnable grinned.

“I know loads, my parents were both scientists and so I grew up playing in their labs and helping them with experiments. They homeschooled me and taught me everything they knew. And I’ve basically been researching and learning even more in the past few years. So I know loads.” Lalnable was sat up properly now and he downed the last of his coffee before placing the mug down on the table and stretching up. “Well the caffeine has kicked in so I’m going to do some more research.” He got up and headed towards the door. “See you whenever, Lewis.” Lewis raised a hand in farewell as Lalnable strode out of the kitchen, leaving Lewis alone once again.

Lewis finished his tea off quickly and found a place to set the mug down before he too left the kitchen, switching off the light as he went. Walking back through the house seemed less scary now that he knew Lalnable was off somewhere doing some strange experiment. Lewis quickly found his way back to his room, feeling tiredness beginning to creep up on him as he sat himself down on the bed, a yawn breaking out as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. The strange late night conversation with Lalnable had pushed all thoughts of the nightmare from his mind and the mug of tea had made him sleepy. Lewis yawned again as he curled up in the bed, pulling the covers over him. Hopefully he wouldn’t have too much trouble getting to sleep now…

* * *

 

The light coming in through the windows was still grey, cloudy and rainy, but it was brighter than it had been yesterday, Simon noted as he walked through the rooms, searching for signs of life from the others in the house. It was roughly mid morning and he had woken up, slightly peckish and remembering that there was no food, he decided to go hunting for people instead hoping to corral them together so they could head into the nearest town to buy some food. And also possibly to buy some extra clothes; Simon was still wearing his makeshift toga-type outfit from the towel and while it certainly did the job, it would be nice to wear some actual clothes again. His were still far too dirty to consider putting on.

Simon wandered through the house, gazing at the miscellaneous scientific equipment lining each and every room. Eventually he wandered into what he assumed once was a lounge from the large blue sofa shoved up against one wall and a tv sitting beside the sofa. However this room had also been taken over by science with a table filled with beakers and bunsen burners, a couple still lit, the yellow flames flickering brightly in the grey daylight. There was a snore from the sofa and Simon looked over. Lying sprawled half on, half off the sofa and hugging a pillow tightly to his chest was Lalnable, fast asleep. His hair was spread around his head in a tangled mess, almost like a halo as he snored gently again. Simon smirked and moved over to Lalnable and began shaking his shoulder.

“Five more minutes…” Lalnable mumbled sleepily as he tried to bat Simon’s hand away. 

“Come on! Wakey, wakey!” Simon exclaimed loudly, continuing to shake Lalnable’s shoulder. 

“Gimme five more minutes.” Lalnable mumbled, again batting at Simon. He rolled over sleepily and Simon had to jump out of the way as Lalnable rolled himself onto the floor with a crash. “Fuck!” Simon laughed loudly as Lalnable lay there slightly dazed, still somehow clutching onto the pillow. He sat up, blinking sleepily as he peered at Simon. “What? What time is it?” Simon wiped a couple of tears from his eyes as he stopped laughing.

“Like eleven or something. Mid morning-ish.” He replied.

“Eleven?” Lalnable frowned. “Ugh, I’m going back to sleep.” He began clambering back up onto the sofa but didn’t get far before Simon grabbed his shirt, holding him back. “Hey!”

“Nope, you need to show us where the nearest town is so we can buy some food and eat. I’m starving.” Lalnable groaned loudly and sank to the floor in defeat, Simon letting go of his shirt.

“Fine. I’ll take you into town.” He yawned. “But I’m not moving until you’re both ready to leave.” Simon shrugged.

“Fair enough. I’ll go find where Lewis is.” Lalnable yawned again.

“Alright, I’m going to stay right here…” His eyes closed and Simon shook his head, but left him be as he headed off in search of Lewis.

Simon managed to travel around the entire house until he suddenly thought that maybe Lewis was still in his room; the one place he hadn’t yet checked. Sure enough, when he opened the door he caught sight of Lewis curled up tightly in the bed, still fast asleep. Simon strode into the room and grabbed hold of the covers over Lewis, pulling them off him in one swift motion. Lewis curled up tighter for a moment as his eyes opened slowly.

“What the hell?” He murmured.

“Get up, Lewis! We need to go shopping before I can eat and I’m starving!” Simon called out loudly. Lewis pushed himself into a sitting position and squinted over at Simon.

“Simon?” Lewis yawned. “What time is it, friend?”

“Mid morning-ish. Come on, spaceman, we haven’t got all day.” Lewis yawned again.

“Mm, sure, ok.” He stretched and after he‘d finished he stood up and stretched again. “It was nice sleeping in an actual bed, wasn’t it?”

“I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had for a while.” Simon replied, grinning. “And you seemed to enjoy it rather a lot considering how you were still fast asleep until only a few moments ago.” Lewis smiled sleepily as he wandered into the bathroom.

“It wasn’t completely uninterrupted sleep though. I had a late night conversation with Lalnable when I went to make myself a cup of tea.” Lewis turned on the water and started splashing it in his face.

“Late night being what sort of time?”

“Like two forty-ish.”

“I’m not even going to ask why you were both awake at that time. Although it does make more sense how you were both still fast asleep now.” Lewis chuckled slightly and left the bathroom.

“Lalnable asked me if he could help up fix up the spaceship. I said yes, because I thought you wouldn’t mind.” 

“He’s going to help us with going to the moon?” Simon asked excitedly. Lewis nodded. Simon squealed. “But what if he starts stealing parts of the spaceship again?” He asked once he’d stopped squealing.

“He’ll be helping us build it, Simon, I hardly doubt that he’ll want to steal anything from it. It would just create more work for him.”

“That’s a good point, Lewis. Anyway, are you ready to go?” Lewis frowned.

“Go? Go where?” Simon turned and walked out of the bedroom, Lewis trailing behind him.

“We’re going into town to buy some food, because unlike you I didn’t have a midnight snack.” Simon said as he headed down the corridor.

“It was hardly a midnight snack. All I had was a cup of tea. And besides that, I’m pretty sure Lalnable doesn’t have any food in this house.” 

“Exactly. And I’m starving.” Lewis chuckled and then glanced down at the towel Simon was still wearing.

“Simon, you can’t go into town wearing that.” Simon spun dramatically on the spot and posed in front of Lewis.

“Why not, Lewis?” He said, grinning. “This is the height of fashion I’ll have you know.”

“Simon, it’s a towel-oh never mind.” Lewis said, shaking his head. “Look, just find something to wear, just until we can clean our clothes.”

“Alright, Lewis. Because you asked nicely.” Simon winked and strutted past Lewis back towards his room.

While Simon was changing, Lewis took the opportunity to finish getting up, including trying his best to clean his teeth without a toothbrush, which was a struggle to say the least. When Simon had finally finished changing, he was wearing a pair of trousers held up with a belt that was barely big enough for him and the legs of the trousers had been rolled up so much there was at least as much fabric there as was in the length of actual usable fabric. Both Lewis and Simon were wearing their shoes and they headed downstairs to the room where Lalnable had said he would be waiting for them. Walking into the room, Simon noticed that Lalnable hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor and his mouth was slightly open as quiet snores filled the room.

“Look at this slacker.” Simon said, placing his hands on his hips as he grinned at Lalnable.

“You know I’m not really surprised he’s still asleep. I mean, when I talked with him last night he was waking himself up with a cup of coffee, so god knows what time he actually got to sleep.” Simon shrugged.

“Well, that’s his own fault.” He moved closed to Lalnable. “Wake up! Rise and shine, we’re ready to go!” Lalnable jumped violently as Simon laughed. He sat up frowning at Simon.

“Thanks…” He mumbled, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Simon chuckled.

“You’re welcome.” He swept a low bow. “Now, are you ready to take us into town. You did say you would.” Lalnable groaned and clambered to his feet.

“I hate mornings.” He grumbled angrily as he searched around the room, finding a hair tie and pulling his hair back into a small ponytail, grey bags hanging under his eyes.

“Well, this is hardly morning any more.” Lewis commented as Lalnable moved past the pair and through towards the front door.

“Ha, ha, sure. Anything before one is morning for me.” He yawned. “Well, let’s go.”

Lalnable pulled open the door and glared out at the weather. There was a light drizzle pouring down and a gentle breeze blew the misty rain into the house as Lalnable glared at it.

“We’re going to get absolutely soaked.” He muttered sulkily before he stepped out into the rain. “Close the door behind you.” He called back as Simon and then Lewis followed him out into the rain. Lewis pulled the door shut and they headed off following Lalnable’s lead.


	6. Prologue 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a super short chapter (and for that I'm really, really sorry), and I'm really not sure how I feel about it, I think I might have to go back and rewrite it at some point, normal everyday conversation is something I find really difficult to write, but I do need to practice it.
> 
> On another note, I will be taking a short hiatus while I'm on holiday, and while I won't be uploading any chapters, I will (hopefully) be writing and so when I return from my hiatus, I'll upload an extra long chapter to make up for this puny short chapter and the hiatus.

The rain slowly eased off as they walked, although not before they all got soaked for the second time. The town they arrived in was a small quaint thing with large baskets overflowing with flowers and plants hanging over the shop windows and doors, splashes of colour in the overall greyness of the day. Due to the weather the town was relatively quiet with only a few people strolling around the shops and a couple of cars driving by and splashing through the puddles on the roads. Lalnable gestured vaguely around at the town. 

"Welcome to Willowdale." He said as Lewis and Simon looked around at the town. It wasn't raining at the moment but the skies were still rather grey and because of it, there was an air of emptiness around the town. “It’s not normally this quiet…” Lalnable said, looking around the town and the distinct lack of people. “Actually, it is usually this quiet. This place can be really dead when it wants to be.” Simon chuckled slightly.

“Well as long as we can buy food here, I’m happy.”

“Clothes too, friend.” Lewis chipped in. “We could do with an extra set of clothes.” Simon shrugged.

“Suit yourself, spaceman, but my main priority is food.” He looked up at Lalnable. “Where’s the nearest grub shop around here then?” Lalnable pointed down a street.

“Head down there and you’ll find a supermarket.”

“Great!” Simon started heading down the street Lalnable had pointed out to him, pulling up his trousers as he went.

“Hold on a second, Simon!” Lewis called after him. Simon stopped and spun around to face the pair. Lewis glanced at Lalnable. “I don’t suppose you have any money, do you, friend?” Lalnable shook his head. Simon walked back up to the group.

“Not on me. I’ve got money back at my castle though.”

“Ah… that might be a problem. I don’t suppose you have any money on you, Simon?” Simon shook his head.

“Not yet. I planned to mine some gold and sell it on so we would have some money. We didn’t really need much money when we were in the forest.” Lewis sighed.

“That’s true.” He looked back over at Lalnable. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to go back and grab some money, would you? It feels wrong, considering you’re letting us stay in your home and also borrow your clothes, and now we’re asking you to buy food for us.” Lalnable laughed.

“It’s probably a good thing you guys are doing all this, because otherwise I wouldn’t be leaving the house, and I probably wouldn’t have gone out for food for another couple of days.” He looked back up at the sky. “The only reason I don’t particularly want to go back is incase it rains again, but neither of you two would know where to find my bank card… I’m not entirely sure I know where to find it.” Lalnable sighed in a resigned manner. “Well, I’ll set off and see you two in a bit.” 

Lalnable turned away from Lewis and Simon and headed down the street back in the direction they’d just come from. Lewis glanced around the quiet town and caught sight of a number of empty benches. They were wet from the recent rain, but Lewis figured they were already soaked and a little extra water wouldn’t hurt them.

“Let’s go sit down while we wait for Lalnable to return. There’s no point in standing around and waiting for him.” Lewis said, making his way over to the benches, Simon trotting after him. 

The pair sat themselves down on the bench and looked around the town, Simon’s legs dangling slightly from the ground. Now that the rain had stopped for a while, a couple more people were beginning to wander around the town and go about their business. There was nothing much to do except watch the people strolling around the town, and wondering where they were going. It wasn’t long before Simon was eyeing up the ladies and comparing them to the dwarven women he found attractive back in his home.

“Now you see, the problem with these ladies here, Lewis, is their lack of beards. None of these ladies have beards of any kind of description, and a good proportion of the men don’t have beards either. It’s a disgrace!” Lewis snorted as Simon gestured around at the people walking through the town.

“And what about my beard, friend? How would you rate that?” Simon squinted up at Lewis’s beard, leaning forwards and backwards as he appraised it.

“Well you have a beard, spaceman, which is more than most of the people in this town.” He grinned mischievously. “However, as dwarven beards go it’s rather pathetic. I mean, you call that a beard? There’s more hair on my sack!” Simon started giggling as Lewis frowned slightly in confusion until the meaning of what Simon meant got through, at which point Lewis turned his frown to the dwarf.

“Simon!” Simon laughed some more.

“Well, it’s true.” He stopped laughing and turned his attention back to the people walking around the town. “So, spaceman, anyone here who catches your fancy?” Lewis turned his gaze away from Simon and looked out over the pedestrians around the town. He hummed thoughtfully as his gaze swept over the people present.

“No one particularly, although that one woman over there seems rather nice.” He gestured over to a woman with long blonde hair who was wearing a red raincoat. Simon looked over and eyes up the lady in question.

“Nope. Too tall for me.” Lewis chuckled.

“Well, I suppose height is something you need to think about isn’t it, being a teeny tiny dwarf?” Lewis elbowed Simon as he grinned. Simon batted Lewis’s arm away.

“Now I’ll have you know, spaceman, that being smaller is not a disadvantage. And I think you’ll find that I’m not small, it’s just everyone else is abnormally tall.” Lewis snorted. 

“Whatever you say, Simon. Whatever you say.” At that moment, Lewis caught sight of Lalnable walking across a street towards them. “Lalnable’s back quickly.” He pointed over to where Lalnable was slouching across the road. “I hope he managed to find his card…” Simon jumped off the bench and walked over to meet Lalnable, Lewis following close behind.

“So did you find the card?” Simon asked looking up at Lalnable who appeared to be particularly grumpy about something.

“Yeah, I found it.” He muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Lewis asked, looking at Lalnable in concern. Lalnable looked up at Lewis.

“The damn thing was in my pocket.” Lewis blinked and a moment later he and Simon burst out laughing. “It’s not funny, I had to walk like half the distance back and for no reason!” Lalnable complained.

“Good exercise, friend.” Lewis said grinning as he patted Lalnable on the back. “You said yourself, you don’t get out much.” 

“Yeah, yeah, hilarious. Let’s just go and buy this food. I’m getting pretty hungry.” Lalnable said, stepping away from Lewis’s arm and in the direction of the supermarket.

“An excellent idea!” Simon said as he and Lewis turned to follow Lalnable.

As they walked towards the supermarket, they passed by a man who had grown a large beard and moustache, long enough to braid it and it hung to halfway down his chest. Simon eyed the beard as they walked past and when the man had passed them he looked up at Lewis.

“Now there was a man who could grow a proper beard!” He exclaimed. Lewis glanced back at the man.

“Well, not everyone has to have a beard to be attractive.” Lewis pointed over to another man. “He doesn’t have a beard and I think he’s rather good looking, don’t you?” Simon glanced up at Lewis for a moment.

“So is that a way you swing, spaceman?”

“Huh? Well I just sort of, it’s not really something that I’ve ever thought about?” Lewis seemed slightly perplexed. “Is it not acceptable here, or something?” 

“Nah, it’s perfectly acceptable, only it’s not really been normalised. I don’t know where you came from but it seems like those sorts of things are more normal for you.” Lewis ran his hand through his hair.

“I guess so… You don’t mind though, do you, friend?”

“Of course not! We don’t mind at all, do we, Lalnable?” Both Lewis and Simon looked over at Lalnable who looked extremely uncomfortable and his cheeks were colouring slightly.

“What? Oh, no I don’t mind, I mean, uh, if you like girls, I mean women or, or men, I mean I really don’t mind at all…” Lalnable mumbled awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable with this whole topic.

“So who do you find attractive Lalnable?” Simon said, darting around Lewis to stand next to Lalnable.

“It’s, uh, not really something, I mean, I haven’t really thought about it much…” Lalnable’s cheeks were reddening as he continued speaking.

“I’m sure, Lalnable just doesn’t feel comfortable talking about this with us, Simon.” Lewis said, coming to Lalnable’s rescue. Lalnable looked over at Lewis, relief plain on his face. Simon sighed but brightened up a moment later as the supermarket came into view and he dashed away from the pair towards the shop.

By the time Lewis and Lalnable had reached the supermarket and located Simon inside it, the dwarf had already grabbed a trolley and had filled it half full of a mixture of beer, sweets, biscuits and crisps, and he was busy piling more in. 

“Blimey, you work fast, friend.” Lewis commented as he gazed into the trolley. Simon paused briefly to grin at Lewis before he continued his task of filling the trolley. “Leave some room for other things as well, Simon, we can’t just live off crisps and beer.”

“There are other things in here as well, Lewis.” Simon retorted. Lewis snorted.

“Well, besides all that, we can’t expect Lalnable to pay for all this.” Beside Lewis Lalnable shrugged.

“It’s not going to be a problem. I don’t really buy much, so I have quite a lot of money.” Simon grinned.

“You see, Lewis? It isn’t a problem!” Lewis sighed and held his head in his hand.

“Well, fine, alright. But we do have to buy some real food too, Simon. Make sure you leave room for all that.”

“Sure thing, spaceman. I’ll leave you some room for your ‘real food’.”

By the time they’d eventually finished in the supermarket, the trolley had been loaded up as full as they could get it and Lalnable had paid for it to be delivered, rather than them having to struggle to carry it all back with them. They’d then visited a couple of other shops including a clothes shop and although Simon hadn’t bought anything due to everything being far too long for him, he’d insisted that Lewis had bought an outfit that had a red jumper with a small golden insignia on the left hand side; Simon had explained to Lewis that the insignia was just the clothing company’s logo, while Lalnable had been laughing quietly in the background. Once they’d bought everything they needed, and Lewis had apologised to Lalnable multiple times about them using his money, the trio headed back to Lalnable’s home, a light drizzle starting up again as they walked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone isn't sure, when Simon and Lewis are talking about their preferences in gender and such, Lalnable isn't being homophobic or anything like that, he's just being super super awkward - he is a 17 year old boy who hasn't got out much and doesn't really know how to talk about these things without making it the most awkward thing in his life. I'm sorry if that didn't come across very well in the writing, as I mentioned in the notes at the start, general everyday conversations (including conversations with super awkward teens) is something I desperately need to practice.


	7. Prologue 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiatus is over!
> 
> This chapter is quite a bit longer than the last one, but not quite as long as I'd like it to be really.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!

Weeks turned into months and the weather grew colder and darker as the trio worked on fixing up the spaceship. During their time together, they grew closer, laughing over silly jokes and stupid moments and learning about each other and moments from before they had met. Simon had told the others how he had chosen to leave his home; a rare and unusual decision for a dwarf to make. Lalnable had mentioned how his parents had died in a science experiment gone wrong when he was quite a bit younger than he was now. Lewis didn’t have any stories to tell, but he was happy to listen and happy to talk with Lalnable about anything scientific; their conversations and discussions often running late into the night long after Simon had left them to go to sleep. The trio had also built themselves a more permanent shelter close by the spaceship, as they decided that although staying in Lalnable’s home was nicer than sleeping out in the open, it was tiring to trek back and forth each day. Their new home had been build partially underground to help shelter it from the weather and Simon had constructed a forge inside which also acted as a heater for the place so it rarely went cold. Lewis still had his nightmares but as the months rolled by they came with less frequency and and intensity. Simon still sometimes slept beside Lewis when he woke up and heard the spaceman having a nightmare. 

The days had become very short and cold, and now instead of rain, snow fell from the skies coating the world in a blanket of white as a chill blew through the air. The spaceship was nearing completion and Simon found he had less and less work to do as fewer minerals and materials were required. And so he spent the short days digging, not because he had to, but because he wanted to and it filled the time in which he would otherwise be waiting for Lewis and Lalnable to finish working on the spaceship.

Simon trudged through the snow on the forest floor with a sack of rocks over his shoulder and his pickaxe in his hand. The skies had already grown dark and a few small snowflakes had started tumbling down from the sky as he walked. He was heading back to their camp. He figured Lalnable and Lewis would probably already be back, having finished work on the spaceship for the day. Simon’s breath fogged in front of his face as he repositioned the sack over his shoulder. The air was still growing colder and colder as the days went by and the cold temperatures made Simon grumpy; he was used to warm tunnels heated by hot forges and he immensely disliked the cold. Although he would admit that he did rather like snow; the pure white coating over everything was beautiful to look at and it was entertaining to throw snowballs at Lewis and Lalnable. Simon had been instigator for many snowball fights between the three.

The warm glow from the lights at their camp shone through the trees and twinkled on the ground, indicating that Simon was almost back home, making a feeling of relief well up inside him and he quickened his pace at the prospect of sitting in front of a warm fire with a mug of beer in his hands. Eventually the trees in front of him parted and revealed the entrance to their camp, a small wooden and stone building. Simon walked through the door and down the small set of stairs to the main open area below, snow falling from his feet as he went. He could hear Lewis and Lalnable chatting ahead of him as he dropped his sack to the floor and placed his pickaxe beside it.

“Hello!” Simon called out as he walked through the room towards where they stored most of their food and drink in a sort of makeshift kitchen.

“Simon!” Lewis called out, standing up from where he was sitting and walking over to the dwarf. “Simon we have something to tell you.” Lewis said as he caught up with Simon who was pouring himself a beer. Simon looked up at Lewis who was grinning excitedly and could barely stand still he was so excited.

“What?” Lewis’s grin widened.

“Take a guess, friend.” Simon frowned slightly as he took a sip of beer and peered past Lewis towards Lalnable, who was also grinning widely.

“You discovered some exciting science thing?” Lewis shook his head chuckling slightly.

“Nope.” Simon tried to think back on what the pair had been working on with the spaceship, but he drew a blank as most times he zoned out when they were talking about anything remotely sciency.

“Uh, you managed to get something working?” Lewis grinned even more.

“Pretty close.” Lalnable called out from the other side of the room. Simon raised an eyebrow.

“We’ve finished the spaceship, Simon!” Lewis blurted out, still grinning widely. Simon stood still for a moment before his eyes opened wide.

“You’ve finished the spaceship?” Lewis nodded. “You’ve actually finished the spaceship? Like we can actually go to the moon now?” Lewis nodded again.

“That’s right, it’s completely finished and we’ll be able to go to the moon now.” Lalnable chipped in. Simon cheered, raising his mug of beer up into the air, some of it sloshing out onto the floor.

“This is great! When can we go?” Simon asked excitedly. Lalnable and Lewis looked at each other for a moment.

“Well unfortunately we’ll want the weather to clear up a little before we go, so that means waiting until all the snow’s gone.” Lewis explained, the excited tone leaving his voice as he spoke. Simon’s excitement deflated suddenly.

“So we’ll have to wait until spring?” Both Lewis and Lalnable nodded. Simon let out a long sigh and walked over to where Lalnable was sat down and plonked himself down beside him. “Well what are we going to do until then?”

“Don’t worry, friend, this is actually not a wholly together bad thing.” Lewis said as he came and sat across from Lalnable and Simon. Simon looked up at Lewis. “We still need to build the scaffolding for the spaceship to help it launch into space. And you’ll be able to help us with that, friend.” Simon thought for a moment.

“So what you’re saying is that the spaceship isn’t ready to go to the moon yet?”

“Well, we weren’t lying when we said the spaceship is ready, we’ve done all we needed to do on it, but we’re not ready yet.” Lewis replied.

“Mmhm.” Simon said, raising his eyebrows as he took a sip of beer. Lewis smiled slightly.

“We’re so close, Simon, in just a couple of months we could be flying to the moon!” Simon tried to hide his grin behind his mug but failed as it lit up his entire face.

“Well I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to celebrate. I’m going to pour myself as much beer as I can fit into a mug and keep it filled up the entire night.” Lalnable said, standing and heading towards their little makeshift kitchen. Simon grinned as he raised his own mug of beer.

“Now that sounds like a mighty fine plan! How ‘bout you, spaceman?” Simon asked, turning his grin towards Lewis.

“You know what, that sounds like a pretty good idea.” Lewis replied, grinning himself as he stood and headed over towards Lalnable. 

“Tonight, gentlemen, I’m going to show you how dwarves celebrate!” Simon called out, standing up and downing the rest of his beer before belching loudly and holding the empty mug in the direction of Lewis and Lalnable. “Fill me up, lads, we’ve got some celebrating to do!”

The rest of the night passed in a drunken stupor, with Lewis being the first to get completely smashed, closely followed by Lalnable and it was only after those two had been drunk for many hours, and bottles lay scattered at Simon’s feet that he too joined them in their drunken state. Eventually they collapsed in a pile with Simon snoring gently as the first light of day began shining above the treetops.

* * *

 

It was a bright and clear morning with no trace of a cloud in sight and the birds were singing loudly as Lewis, Simon and Lalnable stood admiring their handy work. Lewis’s spaceship had been fully repaired and was gleaming in the morning sunlight, supported by a frame of wood and metal that towered high into the sky.

“Well, fellas, this is one fantastic spaceship, even if I do say so myself.” Simon declared proudly as he stood with his hands on his hips. Lalnable nodded alongside the dwarf.

“Yep, I reckon this will do the job to get us into space and to the moon.” Simon grinned as Lalnable mentioned the moon.

“And today is a perfect day for going to space I think.” Simon said gazing up at the sky.

“Yeah, we won’t get weather much nicer than this I don’t think.” Lalnable agreed as he also turned his gaze upwards. Lewis frowned slightly as he also looked up at the skies. The feeling of unease had returned to him, reminding him of the nightmares he still occasionally had and the feeling that he was running from something hiding in the endless expanse of space.

“What do you think, Lewis?” Simon asked, shaking Lewis out of his thoughts.

“Well, I mean the weather today is pretty good, but maybe we should wait a week or so, just to make sure we have everything ready.” Lewis said, leaving his gaze pointed up at the sky.

“We have everything ready, Lewis. We all have working spacesuits, we have loads of oxygen, the spaceship is in fully working order, we have food and water for the trip, the weather is perfect… what exactly are you waiting for?” Lalnable asked, looking over at Lewis. Lewis shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He couldn’t deny that there was really nothing that could delay them any longer. 

“I guess you’re right. I just wanted to make sure, you know, make sure we had everything ready.”

“We do have everything ready. If we don’t do it today, then we might not get a chance again; who knows when the weather will be like this again?” Lewis sighed.

“Alright. We’ll do it. We’ll fly to the moon today.” Lalnable grinned as Simon cheered. Lewis looked at them, forcing a smile onto his face. He felt sick to his stomach. “I’m going to get everything together.” Lewis said as he started walking away from the spaceship. Lalnable nodded and Simon stopped his celebrating long enough to watch Lewis walk through the trees.

“Is Lewis alright?” Lalnable asked, looking down at Simon. The dwarf shrugged. “Only he seems a bit nervous or something.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that. Maybe it’s just because the last time he was in that spaceship, he crashed it.” Simon’s gaze was fixed on where Lewis had vanished into the trees.

“Maybe.”

“I’ll have a talk with him before we go, see if there’s anything we can do to help him.” Lalnable nodded.

“Good idea.” He gestured up at the spaceship. “I’m going to do some last minute checks on the spaceship.” 

“Alright!” Simon’s grin returned to his face. “We’re going to the moon!” Lalnable started grinning too. 

“This is gonna be great!”

* * *

 

Simon eventually found Lewis sitting on his bed, holding his spacesuit in his hands and staring at it. The man seemed completely absorbed in his thoughts as Simon walked up to him and sat down beside Lewis on the bed.

“What’s up, spaceman?” Simon asked, distracting Lewis from whatever he had been thinking about. Lewis glanced over at Simon before he sighed and looked back at his spacesuit.

“It’s nothing, friend. Don’t worry about it.” Simon frowned slightly.

“Are you worried about crashing again? I mean if this is really worrying for you we don’t have to go.” Lewis looked up at Simon and smiled.

“No, it’s nothing to do with the crash, friend. And besides, I promised I’d take you to the moon, and a promise is a promise. I’m fine, don’t you worry about me, friend.” Lewis got to his feet and turned around to face the dwarf. “Now, I’m going to get changed into my spacesuit, and you should probably do the same friend. We’ll want to set off sooner rather than later in case the weather suddenly turns.” Lewis smiled at Simon once more before he walked off somewhere to get changed, leaving Simon still sat on the bed.

* * *

 

It was roughly midday when everything was ready for the trio to blast off into space. There was a feeling of nervous excitement buzzing through the air as they went about doing their last minute jobs. Lewis was sat in front of the control panel running through some checks as he spoke to Lalnable on a radio wired through their spacesuits as he checked details on a computer that was wired up to the spaceship. Simon had little to do and was pacing in front of the door to the spaceship, a huge grin on his face that he was unable to wipe off. Lewis suddenly appeared in the doorway of the spaceship, his feet on the side of the door to stop him from sliding further down inside the spaceship. Simon stopped pacing and turned to face Lewis.

“Alright, friend. We’re nearly ready to set off, so it’s time for you to get strapped in.” Lewis said, smiling at Simon. Lewis stepped out of the spaceship so that Simon could clamber inside.

Simon climbed into the spaceship and made his way up to the console where two other chairs had been fixed in place, one slightly smaller for Simon to occupy and the other for Lalnable. Simon climbed into his chair and worked at strapping himself in. As he busied himself with the straps, Lalnable climbed into the spaceship, closely followed by Lewis. Lewis closed the door and locked it shut as Lalnable climbed into his own chair and like Simon, began strapping himself in place. Lewis Eventually climbed up to the console and sat down. He glanced over at Lalnable and then Simon. 

“Simon, your helmet.” Lewis reminded the dwarf who grabbed the helmet that had been resting on his chest as he’d strapped himself in. Lewis glanced over the spaceship, trying to spot anything that wasn’t in the proper place before he too strapped himself in. Once he was tied, in he took a deep breath and glanced at Simon and Lalnable. “Are we ready?” His voice was slightly tinny through the speakers in the spacesuit. Simon just grinned widely, putting his thumbs up.

“Yep. Everything’s in working order.” Lalnable replied, nodding.

“Ok. Alright then, make sure your harnesses are fastened securely, and if everyone’s ready, I’m going to ignite the engines.” Lewis looked at the other two as they checked their harnesses, waiting for confirmation from the both of them before he turned his attention to the console in front of him. Information was running over the screens and lights were blinking on and off. He swallowed nervously as butterflies began writing around in his stomach. “Igniting the engines in three, two, one.” 

On one, Lewis flipped the switch that ignited the engines. The spaceship instantly started rumbling and shaking as the engines began burning. Simon giggled excitedly as information began scrolling across the screens faster and faster. 

“Is everything running smoothly, Lalnable?” Lewis asked, not turning his attention away from the readouts in front of him.

“Everything’s fine.” Lewis took another deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

“Alright.” He grabbed hold of the lever that increased the power of the engines. “Hold on tight, this is going to be a rough ride.” He said before sliding the lever up. 

The shaking and rattling in the spaceship grew and from outside, the trio could hear the roar of the engines. Then suddenly the spaceship started climbing up towards the sky. All three of them were pushed back into their seats as the pressure rapidly built up. Numbers were flashing up on the console as Lewis scanned his eyes over them, occasionally flicking a switch. The spaceship started gaining speed, traveling faster and faster, all the while placing the trio under more and more pressure as they climbed higher and higher into the sky. 

“Hey, Lewis.” Simon’s voice rang through the internal speakers of the spacesuit.

“Mm?” Lewis replied, focussing most of his attention onto the console in front of him. Simon took a breath, fighting hard against the pressure that was building in the spaceship.

“How long is this going to go on for?”

“About 8 minutes.” Simon took another breath. 8 minutes wasn’t that long. This would be alright.

After what seemed more like 15 minutes, the engines suddenly stopped and the pressure that had been pressing against their chests suddenly lifted and they started floating in their harnesses. Lewis let out a long sigh and Simon started grinning as he looked around at the darkness of space, stars twinkling brighter than he’d ever seen them before.

“Lal, can you go make sure everything is still fixed in place?” Lewis asked as he started flicking switches and typing commands into the console.

“Sure.” Lalnable unclipped his harness and started manoeuvring himself around the spaceship, still floating in the air as he went.

“Can I get out of my seat?” Simon asked, looking over at Lewis. Lewis gave Simon a swift nod that the dwarf almost missed as it was partially hidden by the helmet that Lewis was wearing. 

Eagerly Simon unclipped his harness, grinning widely as he started floating, completely weightless in the almost nonexistent gravity. He laughed as he pushed off from his chair and went shooting back through the spaceship towards Lalnable. Simon twisted in the air as he went and caught onto the back wall before he crashed, slowing himself down gently. Lalnable looked up at Simon and grinned as the dwarf did a somersault, giggling as he did so.

“How’s everything back there, Lal?” The pair looked up to see Lewis almost standing with his feet hooked through some handholds, anchoring him to the floor. His helmet was off and Lewis had threaded part of the harness through it to keep it from floating around. There was a slight smile on Lewis’s face as he looked over at Lalnable and Simon.

“Everything seems to be alright, it’s all still fixed in place.” Lalnable replied, taking off his own helmet with his arm hooked around a pole to stop himself from floating around. As Lalnable’s helmet came off, his hair floated around his head almost like a golden mane. Lewis smirked slightly at the sight and as Simon looked over to Lalnable he burst out laughing. “What? What is it?”

“Your hair is sticking up and it looks ridiculous.” Lewis said, still smirking. Lalnable reached up and tried smoothing his hair down, but because he was still floating about slightly, his hair refused to stay in place and continued floating around his head like a halo. Simon was still laughing as he watched Lalnable struggle.

“You know what, I think I’m just going to tie it up and keep it out of the way like that.” Lalnable grumbled quietly. 

“That sounds like a plan, friend.” Lewis turned to Simon. “You can take your helmet off now.” 

Simon slowly stopped laughing and pulled his helmet off, his beard floating around in a similar way to how Lalnable’s hair was acting. Lewis grinned at his friends before he unhooked his feet and pushed off towards the back of the spaceship. 

“Well I’m going to get changed into something more comfortable, you two can do the same if you want.” He said as he flew through the air.

One by one everyone changed into their normal attire, storing their spacesuits where they could be quickly accessed if needed. Lalnable had found a position in his chair where he wasn’t floating about too much, and Lewis was at the back of the spaceship, typing away on a laptop that was fixed onto the wall of the spaceship as Simon spun through the air, delighting in the low gravity. Eventually he came to a stop by Lewis, peering over his shoulder at the screen in front of him.

“What’s that?” Simon asked. Lalnable glanced up slightly as Simon spoke up.

“I’m just keeping a log of the journey. It’s a good thing to do.” Lewis replied as he hit save and closed the lid of the laptop.

“That reminds me, how long is it going to take to get to the moon?” Lewis leant back in the air and crossed his arms, completely at ease with the low gravity.

“About three days, friend. We’ll be stuck on here until then, but we’ll have some spectacular views while we’re here.” Lewis craned his neck to peer out of the window and a large grin spread over his face as he caught sight of the earth below him, almost seeming to glow. Puffy white clouds covered the surface and beneath them he could see patches of land and sparkling blue where the ocean was. The sight was truly magnificent and it almost took his breath away as he gazed out at the planet. “It really is something, isn’t it?” He murmured gently as he moved himself around to get a better look at it.

Lalnable pushed off from where he was and joined Lewis and Simon by the window as they gazed out at the earth. For a few minutes the three stared at the beautiful blue planet in wonder, knowing that whatever they said, words wouldn’t do it justice. It was only when a shrill insistent beeping arose from the console that either of them moved. Frowning, Lewis pushed off towards the console, wedging his foot under a rail to anchor him in place as he looked at the console, reading off the information. Lalnable and Simon joined by Lewis as he started flicking switches, still frowning.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Lalnable asked as Lewis became more frantic. Lewis shook his head slightly.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, something’s malfunctioning, I don’t know what.” For a moment Lewis thought he could hear sirens blaring and screaming but a moment later the sounds vanished. But the feeling of dread and panic that had accompanied the noises remained with him and he could feel his hands beginning to shake and his heart began to race as he started typing a command into the console.

“Lewis?” Simon asked, placing a hand on Lewis’s arm as the man started to tremble violently.

“Simon, I don’t know what to do!” Lewis gasped out as he turned to look at Simon, a wild panicked look in his eyes. Simon glanced at Lalnable for a brief moment before he turned back to Lewis. He let himself float up until he was looking into Lewis’s eyes, keeping his hands on Lewis’s shoulders. 

“Take some deep breaths, Lewis, and calm yourself down.” Simon said gently. “Whatever it is that’s going wrong, I’m sure you and Lalnable will be able to sort it out. Between you, you’ve got it covered.”

“But I don’t know what’s gone wrong, Simon!” Lewis gulped, glancing back down at the console.

“So take a deep breath.” Simon commanded. Lewis obeyed and took a deep shuddering breath. “And let it out, and then take another couple of breaths.” Lewis did as Simon said and he began to calm down, but the beeping from the console was still ringing in their ears. “Alright, now look at the console and read what it’s telling you.” Simon let go of Lewis’s shoulders and managed to push himself back down to where he could reach the floor as Lewis looked at the console again. 

“I don’t know, it’s not saying,”

“Just breath deeply and look at what it’s telling you.” Simon said calmly, despite fear beginning to build inside him. If something went wrong out here, there was no one to help them. Lewis took another deep breath and held it as his eyes scanned over the console, flicking from side to side as he read the information that was scrolling along the screens. For a few tense moments he was silent, but then his eyes widened. Lalnable and Simon held their breath, expecting the worst. What they did not expect was for Lewis to suddenly burst out laughing.

“Lewis?” Lalnable asked tentatively as Lewis curled himself up, laughing. “Is everything ok?” 

Lewis wiped a couple of tears from his eyes, the small beads of water floating in the air around him. “I’m sorry.” He said, still laughing slightly. “Everything’s fine. You want to know what was malfunctioning?” Lalnable and Simon glanced at each other.

“Yeah?” Lalnable asked tentatively.

“The toilet.” Lewis snickered slightly before he burst out laughing again. Lalnable stared at Lewis incredulously for a few moments before Simon started laughing too. Their laughter was infectious and eventually all three of them were laughing loudly, rolling around in the air. 

Lewis finally stopped laughing long enough to grab hold of the chair and pull himself over to the console once more where he pressed a button and the alarm that had been beeping fell silent. He grinned as he turned to face Lalnable and Simon who were still trying to control their laughter. Slowly they stopped and were able to anchor themselves back down by grabbing hold of railings and chairs. Lewis grinned up at Lalnable.

“Well, we know what’s wrong now. And unfortunately this means that no one will be able to go to the toilet until we fix it, but that should be pretty easy.” Lewis said, still grinning childishly.

“I can’t believe the toilet broke.” Simon said, wheezing slightly from laughing so hard. He started giggling again. “We all thought we were going to die and it was just a broken toilet.” Lalnable and Lewis grinned as Simon giggled, floating about in the air.

“I should probably get to work fixing it.” Lewis said. “Let me know if either of you become desperate to go.”

Lewis pushed off and headed towards where the toilet was. Lalnable hooked his foot under a railing and leant back as Simon continued giggling to himself.

“The toilet broke.” Lalnable smirked as he watched the dwarf spin through the air laughing and giggling at the ridiculous stupidity of the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know much about going into space, or anything like that so for this chapter I had to do quite a bit of reading up on astronauts' experiences of going into space, and I'm still not sure if it's any good.
> 
> Also there has been quite a bit of a time jump from the last chapter to this chapter, purely because if I wrote what happened in all of that time, it would become relatively boring and repetitive, and it would make the story stupidly long. This part of the story is only a small fraction of what I'm going to be writing about so I really can't spend forever on it. Plus I'm terrible at writing normal everyday conversations.


	8. Prologue 8

Time almost seemed to lose all meaning as the spaceship hurtled through the inky darkness of space. There was no sunrise or sunset to mark the passing of a day. It was only Lewis who provided any sort of constant, making sure he woke himself and the others at the same time every day, and urged them to sleep at the same time each night. He also encouraged them to eat at least twice a day, even when they were feeling ill from the lack of gravity. Occasionally the three of them fought; being stuck together in a small space was not something any of them were used to but they managed to smooth over most arguments. But one thing neither of them grew tired of was the view. At any given moment, one of them could be found staring out into the vastness of space, gazing at the stars or looking down on the blue and white marbled globe that was the earth, so silent and large as it floated in the vast nothingness. It was easy to be struck into an awed silence while gazing out the windows of the spaceship.

The three days passed quicker than any of them thought they would. And the landing on the moon went smoothly, there was barely a bump as the spaceship landed onto the silvery grey surface of the moon. There was excitement buzzing in the air as they readied themselves. Both Simon and Lalnable knew that this was a first; no one had gone to the moon before, they would be the first three to step onto the moon. But even though Lewis wasn’t as aware of the profound significance of this trip, he was still just as excited as the other two. Despite a quiet thought in the back of his mind telling him that he must’ve seen fantastic things previously in his life; planets and stars, Lewis was still excited in thinking that this would be his first time stepping out onto a foreign moon. It wasn’t long before they were all ready, checking and checking again that their equipment was working and that they were ready to step out onto the surface of the moon. Lewis had a small bag attached to one of the loops by his waist that held a few items he wanted to take out onto the moon with him. They were gathered by the spaceship’s airlock; something that Lalnable and Lewis had had to add onto the spaceship while they were fixing it; it was clear that this spaceship had been designed for short flights where it would be docking in fully aired environments, rather than in the vacuum of space. 

“Are we ready?” Lewis asked, his excited voice coming through the speakers in the helmets of the other two. Lalnable nodded, grinning widely.

“Yes!” Simon squealed, slowly bouncing up and down in the moon’s low gravity. 

Lewis smiled at the pair before he closed the airlock door. There was a loud hissing sound that grew quieter and quieter until nothing could be heard. And then the outside door to the airlock opened. The silvery grey surface of the moon shone up at the three friends, perfectly silent and perfectly still. Spellbound by the sight before him, Simon slowly moved forwards out of the airlock, sinking down slowly to the surface of the moon. Bending his legs he pushed off and rose up again as he moved forwards in a large arc. Simon twisted around as he sailed over the moon’s surface. Below him he could see where his feet had left imprints in the dust and he laughed loudly. Lalnable and Lewis climbed out of the spaceship, gazing around in wonder as Simon’s laughter rang in their ears. The sight before them was truly something to behold. 

Lewis bounced up and glided slowly after Simon with Lalnable quickly following. It wasn’t long before all three of them were laughing and delighting in the lessened gravity of the moon. Eventually Lewis sank back down to the ground beside the spaceship and began rummaging around in his bag.

“Hey, Simon, Lal, come over here for a second.” Simon was approaching the peak of one of his arcs and he turned upside down to look towards Lewis as Lalnable walked over, his strides long and slow. Simon slowly descended, righting himself before he hit the ground and when he did, he pushed off again, this time towards Lewis and Lalnable.

“What is it?” Lalnable asked as he stopped by Lewis, Simon arriving soon after. Lewis looked up from his bag, grinning at the pair.

“It would be a shame to come all this way and visit the moon if we didn’t leave something here.” Lalnable and Simon looked at Lewis curiously as he pulled out something from his bag. In one hand was a small metal pole, only about 30 centimetres long and in his other hand was a bundle of rolled up white fabric. “Here, Simon, unwrap this for me.” Lewis handed the bundle of fabric to Simon as he pressed a button on the metal pole and it suddenly extended to quadruple its original length. Simon had finished unwrapping the fabric and as he held it up to look at it he squealed loudly, causing both Lewis and Lalnable to cringe.

“What is it?” Lalnable asked as Simon bounced around happily, clutching the fabric tightly. Simon came to a stop and held the fabric out to Lalnable, showing a crudely made design painted onto the white fabric. A brown circle had been painted in the middle with orange writing in the middle reading ‘JAFFA’ and underneath it was written their names. “That’s amazing! But why JAFFA though?” Lewis smirked at Lalnable’s question.

“I remembered when Simon was joking around that we should call this trip the JAFFA Space Program. JAFFA standing for Joint Aeronautical Fantastic Free Astronauts, of course.” Simon laughed loudly.

“Oh my god I’d forgotten about that! I love it!” Lewis held out the metal pole.

“Let’s tie it onto this and then, Simon, you can do the honours of placing our flag on the moon!” 

“Yeah!” Lalnable called out excitedly as Simon cheered. 

It didn’t take long to attach the flag onto the pole and once it was done, Lewis and Lalnable stood back and watched proudly as Simon drove the pole into the ground.

“That’s it, boys, we’ve officially claimed the moon as our own!” Simon said, grinning widely as he stood beside the flag.

“Simon, hold the flag out, I’m going to take a photo.” Lewis said, reaching into his bag once more and pulling out a camera, cased in something similar to the space suits that they were wearing. Simon obligingly held out the flag and grinned widely as Lewis took the picture. “Your turn, Lal.” Lalnable and Simon swapped places and Lewis took another picture. Then Simon took the camera from  Lewis and he took Lewis’s photo.

“Alright, now it’s time for a photo of all three of us.” Lewis announced as he took the camera from Simon and started adjusting some of the settings. “You two go and stand by the flag, I’m just setting up the camera.” Lewis placed the camera on the steps into the spaceship and clicked the button before he turned and joined Lalnable and Simon by the flag. 

Simon was in the middle with Lewis on his right and Lalnable on his left. The dwarf had pulled the two men down to his height by wrapping his arms around their shoulders. All three of them were grinning madly and laughing as the camera took the photo. They stayed like that for a little longer, laughing together and revelling in the euphoria that was still rushing through their systems. But eventually their spacesuits began warning them that they were beginning to run low on air and they headed back into the spaceship, but not before both Lewis and Simon took some of the rock from the moon; Lewis claiming that he was taking it back to earth to test it and Simon saying that he wanted to have some moon rock because after all he was a dwarf and rocks were his life.

Once they were all back on the spaceship and out of their spacesuits, Lewis fired up the engines and the spaceship headed back into space, ready to make the return journey to earth. Lalnable and Simon stood by the window gazing down at the surface of the moon, and their little flag as they flew further away from it.

“Can’t we stay a little longer?” Simon asked, his gaze still fixed on their flag. He couldn’t see the design that Lewis had painted on because the fabric was hanging limply.

“I wish we could.” Lewis replied, coming to stand by Lalnable and Simon and look back at the moon with them. “But we wouldn’t have enough supplies if we stayed.” Simon sighed.

“It’s a shame, we could’ve set up a little moon base or something if we could have stayed longer.” Lalnable said. Both Lewis and Simon nodded quietly.

“Next time, we’ll have to bring extra supplies.” Lewis said, a jokey tone in his voice, but both Lalnable and Simon knew there wouldn’t be a next time. It had been hard enough getting together all the supplies for this trip, including getting their hands on enough fuel to make the trip possible. 

They continued staring at the silvery surface as it grew smaller and smaller and as they got further away the gravity lessened and soon they were floating again. 

“Hey, let’s take one more picture, yeah?” Lewis suggested, pushing himself over to where he’d stored the camera. “Go over to the console and face me.” 

Lalnable and Simon floated over to the console and turned to face Lewis who was setting up the camera again. Once it was ready, he left it floating in the air and he joined the other two. They all grinned as the photo was taken, but their smiles weren’t quite as genuine as they had been when they’d taken the group photo on the moon. They were sad to leave, and all three of them knew there was little chance they’d ever return.

The spaceship was silent. Lewis was by the console, staring at the information scrolling by but doing nothing. Lalnable had taken a position by one of the windows, staring out at the stars all around them and Simon was still gazing down at the moon.

“Well, fellas.” Lalnable and Lewis looked up towards Simon. “These past few days have been the best days of my life, and I’d like to say thank you.” Lalnable looked away awkwardly.

“It’s been nice to work with you two. It’s been fun.” Lalnable said quietly, turning his gaze back to the stars outside. Simon smiled.

“Thank you, friend. For helping me out. And I’m glad I could do this for you.” Lewis spoke next and when Simon looked over at him, he could tell that Lewis deeply meant what he said.

“Here’s to more fun times!” Simon said, raising a mock glass in the air. Lalnable and Lewis joined in, raising their own mock glasses into the air. “May all our future adventures be stupid and fun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ROLL CREDITS!!!
> 
> Ok, but more seriously, this isn't the end. It feels like an ending, and in a way it is. What this (and all previous chapters) can be described as, is a kind of prologue. This is the beginning of the story and trust me, there's a lot more to come. I hope you'll all stick around for the ride!
> 
> MANDATORY REST STOP! If you are reading this as a completed work, this is a mandatory rest stop! Close the tab, get some food/rest/something to drink. It will still be here when you get back :)


	9. Datlof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's very, very mild blood mentions in this chapter, also there's a mention of mild alcoholism; what Lewis does in this chapter I do not recommend anyone does, day drinking is not a good habit.

Time passes quickly when you spend it in the company of good friends. And the year and a half after the flight to the moon passed in seemingly no time at all to Lewis, Simon and Lalnable. After the short time they spent recovering from the trip into space, things began moving quickly. Lewis published the details of their trip, along with the photos they took and the scientific community pounced on the publishings, sending questions, asking details and asking for interviews. It wasn’t long before the mainstream media turned its attention to the trio, formally reporting their trip to the masses. Of course there were critics, those who didn’t believe that it actually happened; people who believed that the whole thing had been a hoax. But most were amazed and awestruck that a ragtag group composed of only two scientists and one dwarf managed to fly to the moon and back. It was during this time that Lewis first discovered that the red outfit Simon had convinced him to buy had been a Star Trek cosplay, something that he had been wearing during the trip to the moon, something he had shouted at Simon for while the dwarf rolled around on the floor laughing. And after the excitement and hubbub surrounding their trip to the moon died away a little, the three were left in Lalnable’s home wondering what they’d do next. 

It was Lewis who came up with the idea of a company dedicated to science; researching, testing and eventually inventing things for the general public to use and hopefully to make their lives easier. Both Lalnable and Simon were thrilled by the idea until the question came; where would they base their new company? They couldn’t use Lalnable’s home because although it had almost everything they could want, it was in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town was quiet and rainy and hardly any of the inhabitants there would be interested in the complex science that Lalnable and Lewis wanted to research. Lalnable had then mentioned Datlof, the large city that lead most of the world’s scientific advancements. Datlof wasn’t as far away as some of the other cities in the world and it was the home of everything science. It was the perfect place to start up their company.  Simon was the one who then came up for the name of the company. He’d been joking around, saying how the three of them were like an “old goon squad” and with a sudden spark of inspiration he’d suggested naming it ‘Ye Olde Goone Squade’, giggling while he’d been saying it. Lewis had instantly decided that that was a stupid name for a scientific company but Lalnable had replied with abbreviating it and adding labs to the end, resulting in the name ‘Yoglabs’. Both Simon and Lewis had liked this idea, and thus Yoglabs was formed.

The trio moved to Datlof and worked at setting up Yoglabs. During the time that Lalnable and Lewis had been rebuilding the spaceship, Simon had been amassing a larger and larger collection of gold; a collection that was used in helping to fund the creation of Yoglabs. Because all three of them played a part in the creation of the company, all three became Co-CEOs, although it was no secret that it was mostly Lewis who was in charge; Lalnable was more interested in his science than actually running a company and Simon was just hanging along for the ride. It took a while to settle into Datlof, finding places to stay and finding a suitable building for Yoglabs to be based in. And once all that was sorted, they began advertising job vacancies. Due to their fame with the trip to the moon, there were a good number of scientists who applied for jobs within the company and it wasn’t long before Yoglabs was up and running. 

Growing accustomed to life in the city was difficult for all three. Although Simon had grown up in a dwarven city, his home city was very different to Datlof. In the dwarven city of his home, Simon had been safe underground and the people who surrounded him had all been his height. The buildings had been smaller and more spread out and there was a much larger sense of community. Simon quickly realised he preferred the countryside to the city and so he decided to build himself a small house in the forests around the edge of the city, somewhere where he could stay away from the bustling of the streets and also somewhere where he could set up a small mine for himself. Lalnable had grown up in the country his entire life, most of his contact with people coming from his parents and so suddenly being thrust into the centre of a hive of people and activity was a bit of a shock for him. Although he quickly grew accustomed to the constant life and excitement of the city; the fast pace of a day in the city suiting his lifestyle and feeding into his energy, and the expanse of 24-hour shops and coffee shops was an added bonus, helping him when he stayed awake all night and needed a quick caffeine fix before the next day started. Lewis found the city strange after the quiet solitude of the forest and his friends’ company. But he quickly settled into the city life, almost like it was his natural habitat. Of the three, he spend the least amount of time adjusting to the rush and pressure of the city and Lalnable and Simon quickly realised how charismatic Lewis was. He charmed everyone he talked to and in any given situation, he became the leader; people gravitated towards him like he had some kind of magnetic pull. Lalnable and Simon had introduced Lewis to gin while they were still settling into Datlof after Lewis had complained that he didn’t particularly like any of the alcohol that they had drunk previously. Lewis and gin had been a big success. Lewis had discovered he loved the bitter spirit and would often drink it neat, shocking both Simon and Lalnable. It didn’t take long before Lewis would often have a drink or two of the alcoholic beverage during the day, quickly raising his tolerance and allowing him to drink more. But he never drank enough that he was completely numbed by it or was outwardly drunk.

Despite it being technically illegal to carry weapons around the city, Lewis kept his diamond sword with him at all times, a sword that Simon had made for him while they were still in Lalnable’s house with the diamonds he’d gathered during his mining trips as a thank you to the spaceman. And when police officers questioned him about it, Lewis was able to talk his way out of every situation, claiming that the sword was blunt and not suitable for combat. And they always believed him. After all, a diamond sword? It had to be a fake. And on this particular night, Lewis was very glad he carried his sword around with him.

It was a warm night and the sky was tinted purple with the last remains of the setting sun far to the west. The city streetlights glowed orange, filling the streets with their artificial light. The same glow from the streetlights dulled the stars in the night sky, so only a couple remained visible flickering bravely down to the city below. The air was filled with the sounds of vehicles, conversations and drunken laughter as people walked down the streets, some wandering slowly, others swaying along with friends and others striding along by themselves, walking fast and looking down at the round as they hurried towards their destinations. At this time of the night, most of the people still out on the streets were looking for a good time. 

Lewis was walking down the street, heading back to his flat. He was wearing some new clothes that he’d bought in Datlof; a red jacket with gold trim, plain brown trousers and a blue and white striped shirt. He’d decided very quickly he no longer wanted to wear the Star Trek outfit, and his old clothes often drew a lot of unwanted attention, especially because his name was written on the jacket, so he’d bought himself some new clothes with some money loaned from Simon. It was a rather late time to be leaving Yoglabs but staying late was something they still had to do regularly as the company was still in its early days and many things still needed sorting. This night, Simon had left earlier so he could get home and relax; he’d been complaining that he hadn’t been able to relax much in the past few weeks and so Lalnable and Lewis had said he could leave early. Lalnable had decided to stay even later, working on one of his projects which had meant that Lewis was walking home on his own. This didn’t bother Lewis, he’d had to walk home alone multiple times. But it was a lot more fun when he had his friends to joke around with, Lewis though quietly as he watched a group of friends pass him in the opposite direction. They were laughing together and paid Lewis no attention as he walked by them. Lewis sighed and turned down the quiet side street. It was a shortcut to the block of flats where he had rented an apartment. It was amazing how quickly the noise of the main street died away, leaving Lewis even more along as he walked along. 

Behind him there was a flash of blue and the piercing noise of a siren as an ambulance shot past the entrance to the street, cars pulling out of the way of the vehicle as it sped by. Lewis glanced back and caught sight of it as it vanished behind the buildings before he continued walking. Further down the street Lewis could see a small group of about 3 men leaning up against a wall. They were talking among each other, their low voices drifting over to where Lewis was. He couldn’t make out what they were saying but he didn’t much care. He just wanted to get back to his flat and relax. Lewis sighed again and picked up his pace, taking a quick sip from the small flask of gin he now carried around with him. The quicker he walked, the sooner he’d be back home. As he approached the men, he noticed how they were either wearing brimmed hats that hid their faces in shadows or masks around the bottom halves of their faces. And it might’ve just been his imagination, but he was sure that they were staring at him, like hunters eyeing their prey. Lewis’s left hand crept down and rested on the hilt of his sword. Just in case. They started moving as Lewis drew closer, moving away from the wall they were leaning on, spreading out in a line in front of Lewis. Lewis slowed down and eyed the three men warily. As he slowed, they walked towards him, circling around until he was completely surrounded. From behind him, Lewis heard the click of a switchblade and he came to a complete stop. The man in front of him drew his own knife and twirled it around in his hands before he began speaking.

“Alright, mate, you’re outnumbered. So make it easy for yourself and hand over everything you’ve got.” Above the small group, silent as a whisper of wind, a large owl flew by, yellow eyes staring down at the collection of men before vanishing into the dark night. Lewis closed his eyes and sighed. He reached over for the hilt of his sword with his right hand.

“Yeah, I might be outnumbered, but haven’t you thought you might be outclassed?” Lewis’s eyes opened and he drew his sword with a flourish. The man in front of him paused for a moment before he laughed. Behind him, the other two men started laughing too. Lewis had sounded brave but he wasn’t feeling particularly good about his chances, especially with them all laughing.

“A sword? Seriously? Come on, dude, there’s no way you can actually use that thing. You’ll just end up hurting yourself.” The man slowly started stepping towards Lewis and a quick glance behind him revealed the other two men doing the same. “Just give us everything you’ve got and we won’t hurt you.” 

Lewis took a deep breath and twisted around to face the men behind him. There was a moment when he registered the surprise on their faces but he didn’t wait for them to recover before he knocked his sword into the man’s switchblade, sending it spiralling down to the ground. Lewis then took a wide swing at the two men, sending them jumping backwards to avoid the sharp blade of his sword. While he had no intentions of being mugged, he didn’t particularly want to send them to hospital. Lewis turned around again as he heard the third man, the leader of the little group take a step towards him. He raised his sword as the man jabbed his knife towards him, blocking the attack. This man had a stronger grip on his knife than the other and as a result was able to keep hold of his knife as Lewis tried to knock it from his grasp. Behind him one of the men had regained his nerve and jumped onto Lewis’s back, knocking him forwards. Lewis knew that he’d have to scare them enough to back off or they wouldn’t leave. The man with the knife jabbed forwards again and Lewis struggled to block it with the man still on his back. He jabbed up into the man’s stomach with his elbow as he swung his sword towards the other man, catching the blade on his hand and causing the man to cry out, partly in surprise, as blood began to trickle out of the shallow wound. The man on his back was knocked to the floor, winded, and Lewis backed off a little, managing to escape from the ring they had around him. Now that he could see all three of the men, he felt a little more confident, and a small grin crept onto his face. The two men still standing both had their knives out, the leader glaring towards Lewis. The man that was on the ground was still struggling to catch his breath and Lewis knew he’d be down for a little while longer.

“Come on then.” Lewis beckoned, straightening up and smirking at the two men.

“You fucking bastard!” The leader spat just before he lunged towards Lewis, closely followed by the other man. 

Lewis parried their attacks and swung his sword up towards the second man’s face. He tilted his head back to avoid the blow, but the blade still scraped up his jawline, splitting the fabric that was covering his face and drawing blood. The man staggered back as the leader attacked again. Lewis blocked him, but found his own attack blocked by the man. He didn’t wait for the man to act before he pulled his sword back and swung it down on the man’s arm, causing a long deep gash. He cried out and dropped his knife to the floor as he clutched at the wound, blood rapidly soaking into his clothes. One down, two to go, Lewis thought quietly as he stepped by the leader and swung at the man who had just clambered up off the floor, still struggling to get his breath back. He was unprepared for Lewis’s attack and Lewis gave the man a long cut down his leg, causing him to fall to the floor again, crying out in pain. Lewis felt bad at injuring these men, but he didn’t fancy his chances if he’d refused to give them his belongings. Lewis turned to the last man who was backing away slowly, his hands raised slightly in defeat. He was about to let him go when he felt a knife sink into his side. He drew in a sharp breath and spun around, swinging his sword out across the chest of the leader, ripping his clothes and drawing blood. The man stumbled back, breathing heavily.

“I’m getting out of here…” Lewis heard the man behind him mutter just before he could hear the man’s pounding footsteps as he ran. 

The injury in his side was hurting more and more, but Lewis ignored it as he looked at the leader of the little group, his sword pointing at the man’s chest. The third member of the group had climbed to his feet once again and was limping away, his hand clutched at the cut on his leg. 

“Have you done? Your friends have left.” Lewis said, glaring at the man in front of him. The man gritted his teeth before he slowly backed away.

“Next time, next time you won’t be so lucky!” The man called out before he turned and ran, leaving Lewis alone in the street.

Lewis sighed as he sheathed his sword, thankful he’d been carrying it with him. The injury in his side was burning and he hoped it wasn’t serious. He could do without a trip to A&E. He closed his eyes and sighed again, his hand pressing gently against the stab wound.

“Well that was impressive.” 

Lewis turned around, startled at the sound of a woman’s voice. As he turned he caught sight of a woman standing in the street with a large owl resting on her shoulder, its sharp talons gripping tightly to the leather pad that protected her shoulder. The owl had pale tawny feathers that faded into blue at the tips and it was staring at Lewis with bright yellow, unblinking eyes. The woman’s long blonde hair was tied up out the way in a ponytail and her hands were on her hips. She was wearing brown leather boots and dark brown trousers with a pale blue shit that billowed slightly in the air and over her face was a mask, reminiscent of an owls face, where her blue eyes could be seen shining through. It also looked like it could double as goggles with some lenses that Lewis assumed could drop down in front of her eyes when she wanted. Her pale skin was tanned ever so slightly, but the orange of the streetlights hid this fact from Lewis, making her skin seem almost sickly, although he knew he’d look the same under the orange glow. There was a slight smirk on her face as she looked at Lewis.

“It’s not every day that someone can do my job for me.” She said, still smirking slightly at Lewis. At this, Lewis was reminded of reports he’d heard in the news of a vigilante that roamed the streets of Datlof; a woman who used a combination of magic and fighting to deal with the denizens of the night.

“Lomadia, right?” She nodded. Lewis laughed slightly. “Well if I’d known you were coming to help, then I didn’t need to fight so hard. You’ve got nothing to do now!” Lomadia’s smirk widened.

“But I got to watch a good show instead. Sword fighting is a rather strange skill to have.” She moved her gaze to the sword that rested at Lewis’s hip. “And frankly, I’m surprised no one’s stopped you from carrying it around. If you weren’t the victim in this situation, I’d be tempted to turn you into the police.” She lifted her gaze back up to Lewis, still smirking slightly. The owl on her shoulder flapped and rose up into the air, circling once before vanishing.

“Aha, ah well the reason I’ve not been stopped might be because I told the officers who stopped me that it’s blunt.” Lomadia stared at Lewis and he quietly wondered why he was telling this to a vigilante. Suddenly she burst out laughing.

“So you lied to them!” She said once her laughter had subsided a little. She shook her head and looked at Lewis, a grin on her face. “Well, I’ll let you off for the sword, but let me sort you out.” She beckoned for him to come closer and Lewis frowned.

“Uh?” Lewis could see her eyes roll behind her mask slightly.

“You got stabbed. Let me heal it a little for you.” She gestured for him to come closer again, this time a gentle blue glow beginning to surround her hand. Lewis cautiously stepped forwards.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad…” He said, slightly nervous as Lomadia placed her hand over where he’d been stabbed. She remained silent and a few moments later Lewis felt a warmth spreading through the injury, numbing the pain. Then an itching sensation broke out and Lewis could almost feel his skin being knitted back together by Lomadia’s magic. After another couple of seconds she had finished and she stepped back, the blue glow fading away from her hand.

“There you go.” She said, smiling as Lewis ran his fingers over the now healed injury. “I haven’t healed it fully, so be careful not to be too rough, or do anything that might reopen it. But it should save you a trip to the hospital.”

“That’s amazing!” Despite having been in Datlof for a while, and having heard about magic and magic users, this was Lewis’s first time actually experiencing magic first hand. And the scientist inside him was aching to find out more.

“Glad I could help.” 

Lomadia smiled and gave a small wave before she leapt up, feathers sprouting from her body, turning her arms into wings as she rose up into the sky, circling upwards before she flew away and out of sight, Lewis staring with his mouth open as she went. He stayed staring for a couple of moments more before he shook himself out of his daze, his fingers once again running over the healed injury. Simon and Lalnable were not going to believe what had happened when he told them tomorrow. Smiling slightly, Lewis began walking again, heading down the street. For a shortcut, this route had taken him a lot longer than usual, Lewis thought, still grinning slightly. Tonight had been rather entertaining overall, but right now the best plan that Lewis could think of, would be going back to his flat and unwinding. He could do with a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who turned up! Don't worry, we'll be seeing more of Hannah, I mean Lomadia, in future chapters...
> 
> This is partly the reason why I time jumped a lot of stuff that happens between Lewis, Simon and Lalnable; although those three are great and I love them, now that the story's moved on and they're in Datlof, I get to introduce so many more characters and the whole thing becomes more exciting for me to write. More stuff is going to happen and it's going to be great introducing everyone. And I hope that you guys enjoy it all as much as I will enjoy writing it!


	10. New Candidate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END OF THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE STORY SO GO AND CHECK IT OUT!

“So guess who I met last night.” Lewis said to Lalnable and Simon as the three strolled along a busy main street. 

It was midday and although the air was hot and humid, the sun was hidden behind thick grey clouds. Traffic was almost at a standstill along the hectic roads and the air was filled with the sounds of engines idling and horns blaring. The pavements were no better, with the men and women of Datlof hurrying to and fro with barely a glance up, most talking on their phones or listening to music through headphones. Those that were in the company of others were discussing work, or complaining about the weather. It was a typical day in the city. 

Lalnable, Lewis and Simon were walking along together close to the shop fronts, moving at a much slower pace than the crowds around them. They almost seemed completely separated from the rush, like they were viewing it through a screen. Like most people out on the streets, they were on their lunch break and the nearby coffee shops and cafes were even more crowded on the inside than on the outside as people filled into the small spaces to order food and drinks before they had to head back to work. Lalnable, Lewis and Simon were taking more time than the others on the streets; being your own boss meant you could take a slightly longer lunch break. 

“Who?” Simon asked, looking up at Lewis. Lewis grinned. 

The trio rounded a corner in the road and came face to face with the ancient crumbing castle, the centre of the city. The old building had been abandoned for years and it was in a state of disrepair. The castle belonged to whoever was the current mayor of Datlof, but for many years the mayors of the city had left the building alone, preferring not to spend the time or money for its upkeep or in latter years renovation. It was also rumoured that there were a couple of resident ghosts in the castle, which kept most but the bravest away from it. The land surrounding the castle was churned up dirt and mud with what looked like a building site, with pre-fab buildings, steel beams and bricks lying around the site, that had also been abandoned to time. Overall, the place was a sorry sight to see. 

There were posters, old and new, plastered onto the castle’s old stone walls, and the most recent of these posters had pictures of three people; a man with strangely orange skin like a spray tan gone wrong and blond hair that almost looked like a wig; another man who was very well trimmed with black hair and pale skin who made a very striking appearance; and finally a woman who had brown hair that reached to her shoulders and freckled skin with a friendly smile on her face. These three people were running to become Datlof’s new mayor; an exciting and rare event for once a mayor was elected, that person remained as mayor until they resigned or someone decided to challenge them. The old mayor had decided that it was time for him to retire, and as such an election was in full swing. It was impossible not to know about the election. Lalnable, Lewis and Simon paid the posters no attention as they walked by the castle. They hadn’t been in Datlof long enough to have gained much of an interest in the election.

“I met Lomadia.” Lewis smirked and Lalnable raised his eyebrows, the bags underneath his eyes more pronounced than normal as he had pulled an all nighter with multiple cups of coffee to keep him going.

“Lomadia? As in the vigilante, Lomadia?” Lalnable asked. Lewis nodded.

“Yep.”

“So she finally called you out for your sword you carry around with you all the time.” Simon said, grinning as he elbowed Lewis in the knees. Lewis stumbled and began blushed slightly.

“I bet you couldn’t talk your way out of that one, could you?” Lalnable said, poking fun at Lewis for the number of times he’d managed to convince police officers that his sword was a fake.

“No, no, it wasn’t like that.” Lewis said, waving his hands and trying to hush his friends’ laughter.

“Then how come you two ended up meeting? Were you breaking some law as you walked home last night?” Simon asked, grinning up at Lewis again.

“No, I actually got mugged last night.”

“What?!” Lalnable and Simon called out in unison as they stared at Lewis. Lewis waved his hand in the air nonchalantly.

“Well, I should probably say that some men tried to mug me. They weren’t very successful.”

“Did Lomadia swoop in and save the poor damsel in distress?” Simon asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Lalnable tried to choke back a laugh and failed.

“I actually managed to scare them off with my sword, so some thanks are in order, Simon.” Simon swept a mock bow for a moment.

“You’re very welcome, spaceman.” Lalnable was looking impressed.

“So you fought off a guy with your sword?” He asked, looking over at Lewis.

“Three guys to be exact.”

“Jesus christ, Lewis, no need to brag or anything.” Simon said, looking up at his friend. Lewis grinned.

“So where does Lomadia come into this? Looks like you didn’t need her help at all.”

“Yeah, she told me she’d been watching me fight and that she was pretty impressed.”

“Must’ve been entertaining for her.” Lalnable said. Lewis smiled slightly.

“She said something along those lines too.”

“I’m starting to think you made this whole thing up.” Simon commented as he eyed Lewis closely.

“No, no, no, no, no! I’m not making it up and I can prove it!”

“Did you take a selfie with her?” Simon grinned. Lewis rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly.

“No, I didn’t take a selfie with her.” He pulled up his shirt slightly, revealing the red and tender skin where he’d been stabbed and healed the night before. “See? I got stabbed, but she healed it for me!”

“Holy shit.” Lalnable said as the trio came to a stop and he leaned in for a closer look.

“It wasn’t serious, but she healed it for me anyway.” Lewis eyes’ were glowing with excitement as he remembered Lomadia’s magic from last night. “It was amazing! I’ve never actually seen anyone use magic before and it was just so amazing! She could do what scientists have been trying to do for years, just with a natural ability!”

“Careful, Lewis, your science is showing.” Simon said, grinning up at Lewis. Lewis looked down at the dwarf and let his shirt fall and cover up the mark as they began walking again.

“It was just so amazing! It only took a few seconds as well!”

“Yeah, magic is something else. It’s crazy. I never had enough magical ability to really do anything. Although I did some experiments with some magical substances.”

“You mean like that weird purple goop you brought with up from your home?” Simon asked, remembering a strange vat of a viscous purple liquid that seemed to behave with a mind of its own.

“Yeah, flux. I only brought it here with me because I’m still kind of interested in it but I’ve no idea if I’ll actually do anything with it.”

“Well as long as it doesn’t escape from its tank, or anything weird like that.” Simon said as they turned down a quiet alley, heading towards their favourite cafe, a small independent business that was usually rather quiet due to it being tucked away from the main street.

A loud commotion towards the end of the alley caused the trio to stop their conversation and look up. There was a large group of men harassing a woman who had tripped over some bins and fallen to the floor, causing the loud noise. Lewis took a step forwards and called out angrily towards the men.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” The men looked up towards Lewis and stepped back from the woman.

“Don’t worry. We’re done here.” One of the men called out. The group began to turn and leave, but before he left, the speaker spat in the woman’s face.

“Hey!” Lewis shouted angrily after the man and he was about to chase after him when he felt Simon’s hand on his arm holding him back.

“It’s not worth it, Lewis. They outnumber all of us and besides, they are leaving.” The dwarf said. Lewis let out a long exhale before he shook Simon’s hand off his arm and ran over to the woman.

“Well we’ve got to at least make sure she’s ok.” He said just before he ran over to the woman. “Are you alright?” Lewis asked gently as he knelt down in front of the woman. She had shoulder length brown hair and her pale skin was freckled. She looked familiar, but Lewis couldn’t think of where he’d seen her before. He could see she her hand shaking slightly as she reached up to wipe the spit from her face. Lalnable and Simon caught up with  Lewis and stood by as he helped the woman to her feet.

“I can’t do it any more.” She said softly, her voice trembling as tears began to fall from her eyes. “I’m pulling out of this stupid election.” It suddenly clicked in Lewis’s mind.

“Amanda Turner?” She exhaled loudly as Simon and Lalnable exchanged a look. 

“That’s right. It’s me. Amanda Turner, here to make Datlof a better place.” She grimaced as she said her slogan for the election.

“I don’t understand. Why were they attacking you? Don’t you get bodyguards or anything like that?” Lewis asked, a steadying hand on Amanda’s shoulder as she continued to gather herself. She pulled a face.

“You haven’t been in Datlof long, have you?” She asked, looking up at Lewis. Lewis was taken aback and his hand fell from Amanda’s shoulder.

“No. How could you tell?”

“Because nearly everybody in this godforsaken city is racist, or sexist or both.”

“Surely not everyone is like that?” Lewis was horrified at this revelation.

“Of course there are some exceptions. You. Your friends.” She glanced towards Simon and Lalnable for a few brief moments who both gave her a friendly smile. “But most people are downright horrible. I thought I could make a difference, running for mayor. It was my chance to make a difference for me, for everyone. I was going to make Datlof a better place…” Amanda trailed off and stared dejectedly down at the ground. “But I was a fool, Datlof isn’t ready for a woman mayor and I doubt it will ever be.” 

Lewis was frowning as Amanda drew in a deep breath and straightened her back.

“Well. I gave everyone in Datlof a chance but I know what their answer is. So that’s it. I’m pulling out of this stupid election.” She gave a small smile to Lewis. “Thank you for stepping in then, I’m sure that if you hadn’t turned up, things would’ve got a lot worse. And I’m sorry for ranting like I did. I’ll be on my way now.” Amanda turned and walked away down the alley.

“Wait, you can’t…” Lewis’s words faded in his mouth as he watched her leave, a frown still on his face. Lalnable placed a hand on Lewis’s shoulder.

“This stuff happens, Lewis. It’s just life.”

“Well it’s fucking stupid!” Lewis replied angrily. “How close-minded and ignorant do people have to be to make someone pull out of an election because of something stupid and petty like sexism?!” 

Lalnable and Simon looked at each other with raised eyebrows. This was the first time they’d ever seen Lewis so animated about something. Lewis turned and looked towards Simon and Lalnable.

“You know what? I’m going to take her place in the election.”

“Wait, what?” Simon asked, staring up at Lewis incredulously.

“You heard me. I’m going to take her place in the election. If this city’s not ready for a woman mayor, then they’ll have to make do with me because I’m sure as hell going to fight for equality!”

* * *

 

It only took a couple of days for Lewis to be accepted into the election as a replacement third candidate, as late as it was with the election day in only a couple of months. He was so determined to make it happen that nobody had been able to say no to him. And being as charismatic as he was, it was no trouble for him to gain a mass of supporters and followers within a matter of days. A number of his supporters were people who had previously supported Amanda Turner, people who had disliked either of the other candidates. And aside from them, Lewis had managed to steal some supporters from the others. 

And now Lewis was live on TV, engaged in a three-way debate between the other candidates to become mayor. The studio was brightly lit, Lewis and the other two candidates, the man with orange skin and the man with black hair, standing by podiums wired up with microphones so they could be heard. There was a live audience facing the candidates on some tiered seating so everyone could clearly see the people in front of them. The debate was in full swing and the audience had been rather rowdy, shouting out, cheering and clapping and sometimes even booing the candidates. Right now the studio was relatively quiet as the presenter was reading out the next debate topic.

“One of the most frequently asked questions by the general public is, what are you going to do about sustainable, green and clean energy? There are rising complaints throughout the city about the levels of pollutions and the rising prices of energy bills from companies that are using unsustainable methods of generating power and electricity and people want answers to what you are going to do about these concerns.” As the presenter drew to the end of the introduction to the next topic, voices in the audience began calling out, wanting answers from the candidates. Without missing a beat, the man with black hair, James Black, spoke up, his powerful voice cutting through the studio air. James was just as charismatic as Lewis, and almost just as intelligent and Lewis viewed this man as his main rival.

“The topic of clean energy is an important one, and my suggestion would be to put solar panels on the roofs of every tall building in the city; they would be able to gather light from the sun all day,” Some members of the audience had started nodding their heads.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Lewis cut across James a small smile on his face. “Solar panels only work if there’s enough sunlight. And as everyone knows, the sun doesn’t shine in Datlof.” Lewis comment caused a quiet ripple of laughter to spread across the audience. “While I’m not saying your idea is a bad one, certainly, solar panels would be very beneficial to turning Datlof towards cleaner and greener energy, it’s not sustainable as the only source of clean energy of the city. Datlof needs a combination of things generating clean energy, like wind energy coupled with solar energy.” Lewis received a couple of claps from a few members of the audience as he finished speaking. James smiled a cold smile towards Lewis.

“Well, if you hadn’t interrupted me, you would’ve discovered that I was going to suggest other methods for clean energy along with solar panels.”

“Now you both claim to be really clever people,” The third candidate, the man with the suspiciously orange skin, Doug Drumpf, spoke up, his voice loud, but nowhere near as charismatically commanding like Lewis or James. Yet people listened to him, partially out of politeness and partially because you could never tell what this man was going to say before the words came out of his mouth. James and Lewis patiently turned to face Doug. “But what you don’t seem to understand is that solar energy is bad, and unsustainable.”

“Care to explain yourself, Doug?” James asked.

“Yes, please do.” Lewis leant onto his podium and settled down for what he assumed would be a wild ride.

“So the sun’s up in the sky, giving us warmth, and if you put solar panels down they suck the warmth from the sun.”

“Yes… that’s how solar panels work…” Lewis said slowly as he tried to comprehend what Doug was saying.

“And the more solar panels you put down, the quicker they’ll take warmth from the sun and eventually the sun won’t have any warmth left and we won’t have a sun any more.” There was silence in the studio as everyone processed what had just been said. Almost simultaneously, James and Lewis placed their heads in their hands as the audience became loud with noise, all trying to shout over one another to be heard. “My IQ is one of the highest! And you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure; it’s not your fault.” Doug called out over the shouting audience, looking like he truly believed what he was saying.

“That’s not, solar panels don’t…” Lewis’s hand slid down his face as he tried explaining exactly why Doug was so wrong, but the man’s stupidity had rendered him speechless as he stared, almost in awe, at Doug.

“You utter moron.” James said, finally speaking up. “You absolute utter moron.”

“The solar panels will suck up all the sun’s energy and stop plants from being able to grow. They’ll be all brown and dead. There’s also firm evidence that solar panels cause huge cancers and are hugely dangerous to people living near them.” The audience were getting louder and more angry, despite the presenter’s best efforts to keep things under control.

“I need to excuse myself for a moment.” Lewis said, before he disappeared offstage. A moment later a scream echoed through the speakers in the studio, effectively rendering everyone silent. Lewis reappeared onstage and was caught off guard by the overwhelming silence. A technician ran up to Lewis and whispered in his ear.

“Your mic was still on when you were screaming, the entire studio heard.”

“Oh…” The technician ran off and Lewis awkwardly walked back to his podium as some of the audience members began to laugh. James was smirking slightly and only Doug hadn’t seemed to figure out what had just happened. The presenter coughed to stop himself from laughing too, and also to draw the attention of the studio.

“I think we’ll move on from that topic, some people seem to be getting rather stressed by it.” Lewis held his head in his hands as the audience laughed. “The next question is from a member of the audience, Hannah Rutherford, on equality.” A woman with long blonde hair, wearing a blue tank top and jeans stood up from the audience, and was handed a microphone by a technician.

“I want to know what each of you plan on doing to make Datlof a place of equality. How will you tackle the rampant racism and sexism that fills the streets? After all, it’s no secret that Amanda Turner pulled out because of the intense sexist remarks and hate she was getting.” Hannah’s eyes moved over to Doug. “I’m aware where some of you stand on this topic, so this question is for the others.” Her eyes moved to Lewis, who had recovered from his highly embarrassing moment, and it became clear she was directing this question at him.

“As I’m sure some of you already know, I stepped up in Ms Turner’s place when she pulled out. This is because I highly disagree with what she had to go through and I hope that I’ll be able to enact the change she wanted; to make Datlof a better place.” The audience began cheering and clapping as Lewis finished speaking.

“That’s a fantastic sentiment, but what I want to know is exactly how you’re going to enact this change.” Hannah’s voice spoke up, having not relinquished the microphone back to the technician.

“Well my first plan is to fix the problem of the wage gap, women deserve equal pay for the same job, and,” Lewis wasn’t able to finish his sentence as the cheering and clapping from the audience grew again. James motioned for the audience to quiet down and as soon as the noise levels reached acceptable standards he began speaking.

“What Mr Brindley is saying, is excellent, but he’s focussing solely on the sexism, whereas I believe Miss Rutherford’s question,”

“That’s Ms Rutherford to you, mate.” Hannah cut across James, causing a couple of people to laugh.

“Apologies, Ms Rutherford. But as I was saying, Ms Rutherford’s question was not solely about sexism, although I’m sure that was one of the significant points of her question. If I’m not mistaken, she wanted to know how you’d be dealing with making Datlof an equal place for everyone, not just focusing on sexism.”

“I’m assuming you’re talking about things like the huge racism and barriers that the werewolf population of Datlof face.” James nodded. “Well, for a start I’d treat them like humans. And besides what I would do, what would you do, Mr Black? I don’t believe I remember you talking about werewolves, or other minorities before in your election campaign?” The crowd murmured in anticipation as Lewis fired back at James.

“Of course I care about every citizen of Datlof equally and I want them all to have equal opportunities,”

“But what are you going to do, Mr Black? You’re not answering. Do you not want to help the minorities, like the werewolf population?” James frowned slightly as some of the audience began taking Lewis’s side and shouting out at James.

“I’ll put laws in place about discrimination,”

“There are already laws in place about discrimination, and they’re flaunted on a daily basis!”

“Obviously I’ll want to make an example of these law-breakers and I’d encourage the victims of these crimes to go to the police and report,”

“Go to the police who, despite being a collection of fine men and women, frequently use racial profiling on those who come in for help and are often ignored and given second class treatment, by the police themselves!” The audience were shouting along with Lewis now, although not all the shouting was in his favour; a number of audience members had taken offence at what he had said about the police force, and some were angry at the idea of werewolves being given the same rights as them.

“Mr Brindley, you’re trying to support these minorities, but I think what you don’t realise, something that I and the audience realise is that these minorities are the ones who are contributing to the large numbers of crime in Datlof.” Doug was almost shouting to make himself heard over the noise in the studio as Lewis turned to look at him. “These minorities, especially the werewolves, are people who have lots of problems. And they bring their problems into Datlof. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists… and some I assume are good people. But the majority of these werewolves are criminals.” The noise in the audience had begun to die down as Doug kept speaking. “I will build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall all around Datlof, and I’ll make the werewolves pay for that. Mark my words.” The audience once more erupted into noise; cheers and boos filled the air of the studio as the three candidates began bickering among one another and the debate descended into chaos. 

It wasn’t long before the debate was called off and the cameras were cut as reporters in studios on the other side of Datlof began discussing the events of the night; paying particular attention to the points that had been raised and how each candidate had dealt with them. In the studio where the debate had taken place, Lewis, Doug and James were brought offstage and their microphones were taken from them before they were allowed to leave. Doug and his two burly intimidating bodyguards left almost immediately afterwards, almost like he was expecting an attack from someone in the studio building. James left not long afterwards, leaving through the back door where a car was waiting to pick him up. This left Lewis as the last candidate to leave the building. He took his time getting his things ready, picking up his sword, which he hadn’t been allowed to have in the studio, and putting on his jacket. After all, he wasn’t keeping anyone waiting. 

Eventually Lewis left the building through the same back door that James had left through, smiling at the people he passed by before stepping out into the fresh air of the night. There was still quite a lot of light left in the sky from the setting sun and it was surprisingly quiet around the back, although he could hear noises from a large crowd from the front of the building. If he listened closely, he could hear Doug’s loud voice ringing through the crowds. ‘ _So that’s why he had those big bodyguards with him…_ ’ Lewis thought to himself as he curiously peered around the corner of the building and caught sight of the crowd with Doug in the middle, people swarming around him. It was difficult to tell if they were angry or happy with him, but they were making a lot of noise. Lewis shook his head before he moved off. He hadn’t got far when a familiar voice called out to him and made him stop and turn around.

“I see you’ve got your sword with you again.” Hannah was sitting on a low wall as she smirked over at Lewis. “I didn’t see it on you in the studio, I suppose they didn’t let you have it in there?” It didn’t take long for Lewis to connect the dots and realise that Hannah and Lomadia were the same person.

“And where’s your owl tonight?” Lewis replied as he smiled at Hannah.

“Oh don’t worry, she’s not far.”

“So how come you go by Lomadia when you do your vigilanteing stuff? And how come you’re not busy at it now?” Lewis asked. Hannah smiled slyly.

“It keeps the angrier people from knocking on my door all the time. And who says I’m not doing it now?”

“Well you’re here talking to me, rather than running about chasing down bad guys.” Lewis smirked as he spoke; it sounded so stupid what he was saying. Hannah laughed.

“I was chasing down the bad guys in that studio tonight. Weeding out the ones who were sexist, racist pigs.” She looked pointedly over in the direction of the large crowd where Doug Drumpf was still talking. Lewis glanced behind him and thought back on the debate.

“Well, I hope I’m not one of those sexist, racist pigs.” He said, half joking, but half terrified that she thought he was and that she’d lay into him about it. Hannah smiled.

“No, you seem alright. Considering you’re a man, you seem like a decent replacement for Amanda Turner.” Lewis wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, but he decided to take it as one.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Hannah was still smiling at Lewis and he was beginning to feel a little nervous.

“So, uh,”

“I was wondering if you wanted to get a coffee with me some time.” Hannah said, cutting across Lewis.

“Coffee?” He asked, slightly stunned at the sudden change in the conversation. She smirked.

“Yes, coffee, at a coffee shop. You and me. Just to get to know each other a little more.” Lewis blinked. “It’ll be nice.” Hannah added, smiling slightly more gently at him.

“Yeah, yeah, that’d be great.” Lewis eventually replied. Hannah smiled at Lewis again as she stood up from the wall.

“Alright. Meet me at the Bean Bag at eleven tomorrow? It’s near the castle.” Lewis nodded.

“Yep. Alright.”

“I’ll see you then.” Hannah smiled again before she began transforming; feathers growing down her arms and becoming wings before she took off into the night. “Don’t be late!” She called down before swooping away, her owl coming to fly beside her as they vanished into the dark skies.

“I won’t be.” Lewis said, grinning as he watched her fly away before he began heading back to his flat.

He was in a cheerful mood as he walked back, unable to keep a small grin off his lips, and even Lalnable and Simon teasing him about his screaming during the debate couldn’t damper his mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might go back and rewrite some of the speech during the debate at some point, it's not quite right for a number of reasons...
> 
> Also I really dislike the ending to this chapter, so don't be surprised if I rewrite it in the near future. IT HAS BEEN REWRITTEN.
> 
> Fun fact: Doug Drumpf was created long before Donald Trump arrived and when we first decided on Lewis being in the election, we wanted a candidate who was completely stupid, completely racist and completely sexist. No joke. And then Donald Trump arrived and all we had to do was modify the character ever so slightly and find the best quotes and things to have arisen from Trump's election campaign. So I'd like to say thank you to Donald Trump for giving me some quality content to work with here. And thanks to Hat Films for his 'modified' surname ;)
> 
> (Yes, I know that Trump hasn't ever said those things about solar panels, we got the idea from that from a town that rejected solar panels for that exact reason and we decided to include it because we thought something like that would drive Lewis crazy)


	11. Werewolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess some people might find this chapter slightly disturbing? But I'm not sure? Basically, there are a couple of mentions of being tied up, and a kidnapping almost happens... but this is a fairly light-hearted chapter so I don't think anyone will have too much of an issue with it. But I've let you know, just in case.
> 
> ALSO, THE END OF THE LAST CHAPTER WAS HIGHLY MODIFIED AND THIS CHAPTER WILL MAKE MORE SENSE IF YOU'VE READ THE END OF THE LAST CHAPTER!

Lewis was feeling particularly stressed as he walked along the quiet street, terraced houses and cars lining either side of the street. There was a light drizzle in the air, not unusual for the damp climate of Datlof, and the rain did nothing to improve Lewis’s mood. He’d just left a particularly difficult interview where the interviewer had jumped on every tiny mistake and blunder that he’d made, and hadn’t allowed him to finish hardly any of his sentences. Lewis knew that the interview would loose him some supporters, something he didn’t need right now. Doug Drumpf was trailing behind in the polls at the moment, claiming that all the negative polls were due to ‘fake news’. Meanwhile, Lewis and James Black were almost neck and neck in the polls and as the election date grew closer, he was becoming increasingly stressed. It didn’t help that he was still almost single-handedly running Yoglabs, and he frequently had to sort out financial matters, or figure out solutions for the many problems that kept arising. However, on the positive side of things, he and Hannah had gone on a number of dates, and a couple of days ago Hannah had asked Lewis if he wanted to take things a step further. And of course he’d said yes. The media hadn’t yet got a hold of the information that he and Hannah were a couple now, but he figured it wouldn’t be long. They weren’t exactly keeping it secret. Simon had teased Lewis no end when he’d found out that Lomadia and Hannah were the same person. The dwarf found it hilarious that the vigilante had decided to start dating Lewis. Even Lalnable had chuckled slightly when he found out.

The rain started to fall slightly heavier and Lewis frowned at the grey clouds up above him. He didn’t have a proper coat or an umbrella with him, meaning that he’d turn up at Yoglabs completely soaked. Another thing to make his day worse. Although Hannah had said she might drop by Yoglabs later, she said she wanted to see what Yoglabs was like. A large group of men rounded the corner at the end of the street, laughing and joking among each other. Lewis caught sight of a couple of golden charms hanging from the mens’ ears and he recognised them as a group of werewolves. They hadn’t noticed Lewis, they were too busy laughing among each other. A white van, with a black top hat painted on the side, started driving slowly along the street, passing by the group of werewolves and heading towards Lewis. He eyed the van grumpily. The van was approaching a puddle and if he got splashed, he’d be even more miserable than he already was. The van slowed down slightly, as if the driver was looking for a specific house number on the street. It was only when the van came to a complete stop and the back doors opened that Lewis began to think that something was wrong.

Two men jumped out of the back of the van, one was tall and rather thin with short black hair, and other other was of a slightly thicker build with ginger hair and a ginger beard. They both had pale skin and the ginger one was holding what looked remarkably like a wand, with the tall one holding a coil of rope in his hands. The two men began running towards Lewis and without hesitating he drew his sword.

“Look at this scrub, Ross, he thinks he can take us on with that thing?” The ginger man called out as they ran towards Lewis. The tip of the wand he was holding began to glow red and a few sparks began shooting out of it. 

“Looks like he’s still living in the dark ages!” The tall man, Ross, replied. Lewis didn’t have time to respond or even think about how he was going to defend himself when the ginger man held up his wand and a beam of red energy came shooting out of it, hitting Lewis square in the chest.

“A direct hit!” The ginger man called out as Lewis tumbled to the floor, his sword falling from his grasp as the wind was knocked out of him and the red energy swirled around him, clouding his vision.

“Have you got him yet?” A third voice called out from the direction of the van.

“Not yet,” Ross began speaking but he was drowned out by the ginger man’s loud response.

“Just a minute, Trotty, we’ve got to tip him up good and tight first! Now I know you’d like to be the one tied up, but you’ll just have to wait!”

“But I can’t, Smith, I’m really impatient! I just want to be tied up!” Lewis had rolled himself over and was trying to sit himself up, the red energy that was still swirling around him making it feel like he was trying to move his body through treacle.

“We promise we’ll treat you like shit while you’re tied up later, Trott. Hold up, matey, you’re not going anywhere yet!” Smith said as he reached Lewis and fired another spell from his wand and Lewis was knocked back down to the ground, his forehead hitting the tarmac and making him see stars as a wave of nausea overwhelmed him.

“You’re firing them off everywhere, Smith!” Lewis heard Ross’s voice over a ringing in his ears as he lay on the ground and a moment later he could feel rope being tied around his wrists.

“I just can’t help myself! I just have to unload my power!” Lewis’s head lolled to the side as he was pulled up and dizziness washed over him.

“Guys, look out!” Trott’s voice called out and a moment later curses filled the air and Lewis was dropped down to the floor, his head slamming against the tarmac once more and with a burst of stars and pain, Lewis blacked out.

* * *

 

“For the last time, Jacob, no you can’t offer him weed when he wakes up!”

Lewis slowly opened his eyes, a headache pounding around his head. His vision was slightly blurry, but he could make out a number of people standing around him, some apparently staring down at him. He blinked and suddenly the world was a lot clearer, and he caught sight of the golden moon charms dangling from ears and he realised that he was surrounded by a pack of werewolves. 

“Hey, Danny, he’s woken up.” One of the werewolves, a young man, spoke up, looking over his shoulder at someone.

“Great! Hey, dude, do you want some painkillers?”

“Jacob, no!” Multiple people called out, reaching out to stop a lanky werewolf with long black hair and pale skin jumping forwards towards Lewis. The werewolf who had been called out as Jacob now found himself in a tangle of arms as his pack mates stopped him from getting any closer to Lewis.

“Aw, come on, guys!”

“Jacob, back off!” A commanding voice spoke out and reluctantly, Jacob disentangled himself from his pack mates and took a few steps back. “I’m sorry for that drama.” Lewis then caught sight of the speaker, an older man with short brown hair and a stubbly beard. His skin was surprisingly tanned for someone who lived in Datlof, and his eyes were a bright green. A golden moon charm dangled from his ear, shining and twinkling as it caught the light. The werewolf crouched down beside Lewis so he wasn’t speaking from a great height. “How are you feeling?”

“A little shaken up. But I guess I’ll live.” Lewis replied. He moved to sit himself up and he found the werewolf’s hand on his shoulder, gently holding him down.

“Take it easy, you might be feeling alright now, but you hit your head pretty hard.”

“Right, yeah…” Lewis reached up with his hand and felt a small fabric bandage over his forehead. He inwardly groaned when he realised that the bandage was in the same place where he had injured himself in the crash. Repeatedly hitting his head on the exact same spot couldn’t be healthy.

“You must be wondering where you are. And why you’re not in a hospital.” Lewis glanced around the room he was in, and for the first time noticed that he was in what was apparently a normal house and he was lying on a sofa turned makeshift bed. There was a small TV opposite the sofa that Lewis was lying on, sat on top of a large pile of books and the walls were covered in small printed pictures of groups of people, some of the people in the photos he recognised as some of the people who were standing around the room now.

“A little curious, I guess.” The werewolf smiled.

“Well I’ll explain. I’m Danny, the alpha of this pack. And this is the house where most of the pack members stay.” Danny gestured around at the room and the werewolves who were standing around smiled and nodded. “As for why you’re not in hospital, we generally get turned away from most hospitals so it’s easier for us to deal with any injuries here.” Lewis frowned as he listened to Danny. He knew the discrimination against werewolves was bad, but he hadn’t realised it was that bad.

“You’re not allowed in hospitals? Even if you really need their help?” The werewolves in the room glanced about at each other. Danny shook his head slightly.

“Nope. Most hospitals here in Datlof refuse to treat any werewolves, and anyone who has been injured by magic too. It’s stupid, and it means a lot of people here suffer needlessly.” Lewis’s frown deepened.

“That’s got to change. You can’t just deny someone help because they’re a werewolf!” Danny shook his head ruefully.

“Well, you’re a minority here in Datlof, thinking the way you do. Although I’ll say I am glad that at least someone cares about us.” Lewis sighed.

“I’ll do something about it. If I get elected.” He mumbled, still frowning slightly. A quiet murmur ran around the room as the werewolves suddenly realised who it was they had lying on their sofa.

“Dude, you’re gonna be the next mayor!” Jacob said, suddenly bounding up to Lewis and crouching down beside Danny. Danny frowned over at Jacob. “That’s awesome!”

“Might become mayor. If I win.” Lewis replied, thinking back on the terrible interview and the polls. Jacob flapped his hand in the air dismissively

“Sure you’ll win! You’ve got my vote!” The other werewolves in the room began nodding and agreeing with Jacob. Lewis couldn’t help but grin.

“Well, I think thanks are in order for helping me out back there, but I should probably get going.” Lewis said, thinking back on how he needed to get back to Yoglabs before the place descended into utter chaos. Before anyone could stop him, Lewis sat himself up, the sudden rush of blood around his body triggering a pounding headache and setting the room spinning. He gasped and held a hand to his head as he closed his eyes tightly.

“Are you alright?” The concerned voice of Danny asked, replaced a moment later by Jacob.

“I could give you something if you’re in pain, y’know.” This comment was quickly followed by the sound of a hand hitting a head and a muffled ‘ow’ coming from Jacob.

“Don’t rush yourself. You got quite a nasty cut on your forehead, and like I said, you hit your head pretty hard.” Danny said gently as Lewis slowly opened his eyes. The sudden intensity of the headache was beginning to fade slightly.

“Yeah! You’ll get a nice scar there, bitches love scars!” Jacob called out, grinning up at Lewis from where he was sat on the floor. Danny ignored him.

“I’ll be alright. I think something like paracetamol will help, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Lewis said, moving his hand away from his head and tentatively standing.

“Rachael, go get some water and some paracetamol.” Danny called out to the werewolf that was closest to the door of the room. She nodded and darted away before returning a moment later and held out a glass of water and a couple of small pills to Lewis. He took them and swallowed the pills down with the water before handing it back.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Well thank you for all your help, I greatly appreciate it.” Lewis said, smiling around the room at the werewolves. They returned his smile. Danny stood up next to Lewis.

“Here, I’ll show you the way out.” He led Lewis over to the door as Jacob waved from the floor.

“See you around!” Danny rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry about Jacob. He seems immature and irresponsible, but he can be very mature and responsible when he needs to be. He was actually the first one to notice what was happening to you, and he just instantly ran over there to help.” Lewis smiled slightly. They had reached the front door and Danny stopped for a moment, grabbing Lewis’s sword from an umbrella stand. He held it out. “Here you go, you probably want this back.”

“Ah, thank you! I’d forgotten about it!” Lewis said, taking his sword from Danny and returning it to its rightful place on his belt.

“If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask us. We’d be happy to help you, or your friends.” Danny said, smiling at Lewis. Lewis returned his smile.

“I will. You’ve helped me out a lot today, and I’m really grateful. And if you or your pack need any help, please don’t hesitate to ask me.” The two shook hands before Danny opened the door and Lewis stepped outside into the grey drizzle.

“Take care now, alright? And take it easy with that injury.” 

“I will.” Lewis replied, raising his hand in farewell as he walked along the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a slightly shorter chapter - life has been a little hectic recently as I've gone back to uni and I had to complete some uni work before I could get started on this chapter, but here it is!
> 
> Without the werewolves and the Hat Films boys, this chapter would be quite serious, but they make it rather light-hearted and funny and I kind of like that feeling from this chapter. 
> 
> Also, this is only a quick cameo from Hat Films; they'll reappear again later on in the story but for now this is all you're going to see of them.


	12. The Fight

“So, like this?” Lewis gingerly held out the wand that Hannah had given him.

They were in one of the many labs at Yoglabs, a couple of magic books piled on the tables amongst the mess of scientific equipment and half finished experiments. Lewis had asked Hannah multiple times about magic and how it worked and Hannah had eventually decided that the easiest thing would be to teach Lewis how to actually use magic himself. And so she had dropped by Yoglabs with a few books and magic items and was in the process of trying to teach him a couple of basic spells.

“Yeah, but don’t be afraid of it, Lewis. It isn’t going to hurt you.” Hannah said, smiling as she reached out and gently adjusted Lewis’s grip on the wand. Lewis frowned.

“Right. So now what?” Hannah rolled her eyes slightly and chuckled.

“The wand doesn’t do the magic for you, you know. It’s a way for you to channel your own magic through it.”

“So how do I do that?” 

“If this is your first time trying magic, you might want to close your eyes. It’ll help with concentration.” Obligingly Lewis closed his eyes and once they were shut Hannah began speaking again. “I want you to try to find the centre of you magic.”

“Where’s that?”

“I don’t know, Lewis, it’s different for everyone. You’ll have to find yours yourself. When you find it, it should feel warm and it might tingle slightly. Let me know when you’ve found it.” 

Lewis wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to be doing. It was becoming clear to him that magic was obviously a lot more complex than he originally thought. But he wasn’t a quitter, so he began concentrating and trying to find the ‘centre of his magic’, whatever that was. The minutes began getting longer and longer and Lewis started frowning as he couldn’t find where his magic was centred.  eventually he decided that it wouldn’t matter too much if he couldn’t find where his magic was centred; if he had magic it would probably appear without him knowing where it came from.

“Alright, I’ve found it.” Lewis said. 

“Good. Now focus in on it. This bit’s a little tricky to explain but I want you to take some of the warmth that you can feel, just a tiny, tiny amount, and guide it into the wand you’re holding.” By this point Lewis was completely baffled. But he didn’t let it show on his face and after a few moments he nodded. “Ok, now open your eyes.” Lewis did as he was told and blinked a couple of times in the now bright lights of the lab. Hannah was in front of him, holding her own wand. “Now watch my wand,” Hannah held her wand up and a moment later the tip of the wand began to glow brightly. “You try that, just channel the magic that you’ve got and make the tip of the wand glow.” 

Lewis swallowed nervously and frowned down at the wand. He tried imagining the tip glowing like Hannah’s had done. He tried to visualise some glowing energy flowing from his body into the wand. And still nothing happened. Eventually Lewis decided to give up and leant against a table, running his hand over his face.

“Is it this difficult to do stuff like that normally?” Lewis asked, looking towards Hannah. She hesitated before replying.

“Well, no.”

“Wait, what?” Lewis stared at Hannah and she shrugged.

“Well…” Hannah thought for a moment before she continued speaking. “That’s the most basic spell that someone can do. The only people who can’t do it are non human races, like dwarves.” They were both silent for a moment as the the implications of what Hannah was saying sank in.

“Ah…”

“Yeah.”

Just then the door opened and Lalnable strode into the room. Lewis breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the awkwardness of the situation melted away.

“Just needed to grab something,” Lalnable suddenly stopped talking as he caught sight of Hannah and his lips curled into a slight sneer. “Not interrupting anything, am I?” He asked, scorn laced in his voice. Lewis frowned as he looked over at Lalnable, placing the wand he’d been holding down on the table.

“Uh, no?” Lewis replied.

“Oh good, wouldn’t want to disturb your alone time.” Lalnable turned away and started rummaging around in one pile of scientific equipment.

“Lal, is everything ok?” Lewis asked, beginning to walk slowly over towards Lalnable.

“Oh yeah, everything’s just peachy, Mr. Mayor.” Lalnable stopped his rummaging and turned to face Lewis.

“Uh, what?” 

“Oh nothing, nothing at all!” Lalnable turned back to rummaging. Lewis frowned at him. 

“Lal, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Like you don’t know what’s wrong! You’re there parading about, getting all this attention, and like all that media attention isn’t enough, you had to go and hook up with this whore!” Hannah was about to step forwards to lay into Lalnable, but Lewis stopped her, stepping up to Lalnable himself.

“Whatever you’ve got a problem with, Lalnable, talk to me about it! But don’t go calling my girlfriend a whore!” Lewis said angrily. He didn’t particularly care if Lalnable said appalling things about him, but he did care if he said them about Hannah. Lalnable barely knew Hannah. Lalnable stood up to his full height and glared at Lewis.

“Like you actually give a shit about my problems, Lewis!” Lalnable had raised his voice and despite being slightly smaller than Lewis, he was using his full height to be as intimidating as possible.

“Well I would if you talked to me about them!” Lewis replied snappily, also raising his voice as he returned Lalnable’s glare in equal measure.

“Yeah, yeah, you only care about things if it makes you famous, right? That’s why you agreed to take Simon to the moon, and it’s why you decided to run for mayor, you don’t give a fuck about anything unless it’s for your own personal gain!” Lalnable retorted, leaning closer to Lewis.

“I don’t give a single fuck about being famous, you of all people should know that! I took Simon to the moon because he asked me, he wanted to go! And you know the reason why I decided to run for mayor,”

“But it’s all just a big act isn’t it? You _love_ attention and now that you’re famous and you’ve got a girlfriend to fawn over you, you couldn’t care less about Simon and me!” Lalnable cut across Lewis, and as he spoke Lewis’s eyes began to glow, brighter and brighter as the rage built up inside him, his freckles also taking on a slight blue glow.

“I care about you and I care about Simon and don’t you dare ever say anything like that to me ever again!” Lewis’s voice rang out, loud and furious as the argument escalated. “You need to know your place, Lalnable, and you need to know when to shut the fuck up!”

“Oh that’s rich coming from you! You can’t keep quiet and you never let people voice their opinions around you! It’s always ‘me, me, me’ and never anyone else, you fucking bastard!” Lewis’s eyes were blazing and unconsciously his hand reached for his sword and gripped on tightly to the handle.

“Really? So it’s always ‘me, me, me’ is it? ‘Cause right now it sounds an awful lot like ‘you, you, you’! And you know what, if you don’t like it here, if you don’t like being my friend, then you can leave!” Lewis heard the words leave his mouth and a small part of his brain that wasn’t wrapped up in anger felt instant regret. 

“So that’s how it is? Then fine. Enjoy your life without me, you fucking alien freak!” Lalnable roughly pushed past Lewis and strode out of the lab, slamming the door behind him. Lewis stood fuming for a few moments before the anger left him and shakily he leant himself against the table as Hannah slowly walked over to him.

“What the fuck did I do, Hannah…” Lewis murmured quietly, completely horrified as he stared at the door that Lalnable had just left through. The blue glow was quickly fading from his eyes and he was replaying the argument over and over in his head, the disgusting things he’d said to Lalnable playing on repeat. “I didn’t mean any of it…” Hannah gently placed her hand on Lewis’s shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly.

“You were both out of order in that fight. And you both need to apologise to each other when you’ve cooled down a little.” Hannah said. Lewis glanced up at Hannah.

“Do you think I should text him?” Hannah shook her head.

“No, not right now. He needs time to cool down and so do you.” She glanced about at her things lying around the lab. “Help me clean my stuff up, it’ll help you to think rationally again.” Hannah pulled Lewis away from the table and gently pushed him towards a pile of books.

“Yeah, I need to clear my mind…” 

 _‘If you don’t like it here, if you don’t like being my friend, then you can leave!’_ Lewis closed his eyes and shook his head to try to rid his memory of the argument. Hannah gently patted him on the back.

“Come on, distract yourself with other things right now. Dwelling over what just happened isn’t going to help and it’ll just make you feel worse.” Lewis nodded and grabbed a couple of books. The door to the lab swung open and he glanced up quickly, half expecting a furious Lalnable to come storming in again. To his relief, Simon was standing there, a slightly concerned expression on his face.

“Is everything alright? I could hear shouting and when I came to look, I met Lal going in the opposite direction, and he was fuming. Hi, Hannah.” Hannah gave Simon a small nod as her hands were full of books. Lewis cringed as he thought of Lalnable so angry that he didn’t even stop to talk to Simon. 

“Ugh, no.” Lewis put down the books he’d just picked up and sank to the floor with his back resting against the table as he held his face in his hands. Simon walked over to Lewis and plonked himself down beside him. “Lal and I had an argument.”

“I heard. What was it about?”

“Stupid things. I don’t really know. He seemed angry or upset about something and when I asked him about it he just started insulting Hannah and me and then I got angry and oh god it was so stupid, Simon.” As Lewis talked, Simon pulled a small packet of Jaffa cakes out of his pocket and opened it, offering out the pack to Lewis. “Thanks, friend.” Lewis said, taking a Jaffa cake and staring at it as he held it in his hands.

“So what kinds of things were you saying.” Lewis groaned and buried his head in his legs, the Jaffa cake dangling from his hand. Simon looked up at Hannah.

“Lewis told Lalnable that if he didn’t like being here then he should leave.” She explained for the dwarf.

“I didn’t mean it, I was just so damn angry…” Lewis mumbled, his voice muffled as his head was still buried in his legs. Simon wiped his hand on his trousers before he patted Lewis’s shoulder.

“I’m sure Lal knows you didn’t mean it. And if not, then I can go and talk to him.” Lewis lifted his head slightly.

“I’m sorry, friend, you don’t need to get involved in a stupid argument like this. I’ll go and apologise to Lal later, after he’s calmed down.” Lewis said, glancing up at Hannah as he spoke. She nodded slightly. Lewis climbed to his feet and helped Simon up once he was standing. “Don’t worry about it, friend. Hopefully this will blow over soon enough.”

“You both needed to blow some steam off I think.” Simon said, grinning slightly. “Your shouting was loud, I could hear it from the other end of the corridor.” Lewis grimaced.

“Were we really being that loud?” Both Simon and Hannah nodded.

“Yes.” Hannah said. She held out the pile of books she was holding for Lewis to take and he took them from her. “But don’t worry or think about it now, help me tidy this stuff up.” 

“Yeah, yeah alright.” Lewis said. He smiled over at Hannah. “Sorry this whole thing got cut short.”

“Not a problem, just help me clean it up.” She said, returning Lewis’s smile. She handed him a couple more books. “Can you take them outside to my car please?” Lewis grunted slightly under the weight of the books before nodding. Hannah went and opened the door for him and he vanished out into the corridor, leaving Simon and Hannah alone in the lab. She busied herself picking up the rest of her things and for a few moments the pair were quiet. Then Simon spoke up.

“Do you think Lalnable will forgive Lewis?” Simon asked quietly. Hannah looked down at Simon in surprise and thought carefully before she answered.

“I don’t really know, Simon. I hope so. Lewis has only ever said good things about Lalnable, but they both said some really horrible things to each other.” Simon looked down at the ground worriedly. Lalnable and Lewis had had arguments before, but this was the first time they’d had such a serious argument. And Simon was terrified that his two closest friends wouldn’t forgive each other for what happened. “Simon, I want to ask you something about Lewis…” Simon glanced up at Hannah. She was leaning against a table and gazing at a wand in her hand. “Is he…” She trailed off and shook her head slightly. “Lewis has no magical ability whatsoever. And only non human races don’t have magic… and in the argument just now his eyes were glowing, Simon. They were glowing so brightly and I can’t help but wonder, is Lewis human?” She glanced up at Simon and it was his turn to glance down at the packet of Jaffa cakes in his hands.

“I don’t think he is. But I don’t think he realises it yet.” Hannah frowned slightly.

“What do you mean?” Simon shrugged.

“Has he told you that he can’t remember most of his life?” Her eyes widened slightly.

“He’s mentioned a couple of times that he can’t remember some things, like if they came up in conversation but he never said how much he can’t remember.” Simon was fiddling with the packaging of his Jaffa cakes. While he felt guilty talking about Lewis like this, he was glad he finally had someone to talk it through with. He’d never talked to Lalnable about it, mostly because Lalnable had no reason to assume that Lewis wasn’t human. At least up until now.

“Yeah… well he crashed in a spaceship and he woke up with amnesia. He doesn’t even remember crashing. And right from that first night I’ve had my suspicions. Especially when I first saw his eyes glow. I’ve never mentioned his eyes glowing to him and I don’t even know if he knows when he’s doing it. But…” Simon trailed off and shrugged again. 

“Are you going to tell him?” Simon shrugged one more time.

“I don’t really want to be the bringer of news like that. Especially now with this whole argument that just happened. And I know I should tell him, because that’s what a good friend would do, but I don’t know how to go about telling him. And I almost feel that he needs to figure it out on his own.” Hannah nodded slowly. 

“Yeah, I think I understand.” She said quietly. 

The pair fell into silence again and Hannah continued gathering her things. Simon was surprised to discover that the conversation with Hannah hadn’t made him feel more relieved, rather it had made him more worried about the whole situation. He began wondering what might happen if he told Lewis, would he get angry and shout at him like he’d shouted at Lalnable? Would he never want to speak to him again? And what would happen if he didn’t tell Lewis? Simon grew more and more worried until the lab door opened and Lewis walked in. 

“All your books are in your car.” He said, smiling at Hannah as he walked over to her and when he was close enough he leant in and gave her a quick kiss.

“Thanks, Lewis.” She said smiling. “I’m just going to take these things down and then we can go get some lunch?”

“Sounds like a plan. Simon do you want to come?” Lewis looked over at Simon. 

“I’ll be alright, I’ve got some food stashed in your office.” Simon grinned as Lewis rolled his eyes.

“Alright, well clean up any crumbs you make.” Lewis said grinning. “And I’m sorry you had to hear me and Lal arguing, friend. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s alright. I’m sure everything’ll be fine.” Simon said, smiling as he waved his hand in the air. Despite his relaxed attitude and his smile, he was still worried they wouldn’t make up and he’d have to choose between them.

“Thanks, friend.”

“No problem, spaceman.” A frown flickered across Lewis’s face for a moment, so brief Simon almost missed it. But he was sure he saw it for a second. But as quickly as it had vanished, Lewis was smiling again, his hand around Hannah’s waist.

“Well I’ll see you in an hour or so, friend.”

“Have fun you two!” Simon said, winking towards the pair and making Lewis blush slightly. Hannah just smirked.

“Bye, Simon.” She said as she pulled open the door. 

Lewis waved at Simon before he left and then Hannah followed after him. Simon stayed in the lab for a few minutes, thinking quietly to himself before he too left the room and headed towards Lewis’s office to get himself some food.


	13. Relaxation

“-the amazing turn of events where Lewis Brindly has suddenly shot forward ahead of James Black in the polls after announcing his plans for supporting the werewolf community; Mr. Brindley has proposed some drastic changes including allowing some legal forms, like applying for a driver’s licence, or opening a bank account to not need the inclusion of a surname. Mr. Brindley has also talked about his plans for trying to improve the healthcare situation for werewolves-”

“Oi! Spaceman!” 

Lewis turned away from the TV, where a news reporter was talking about his most recent campaign in the election, and turned to face Simon and Lalnable who were walking towards him. He’d caused quite a stir around Datlof by so openly supporting werewolves, but he’d been thinking ever since he was rescued by that pack and he’d gone back to talk to the pack leader, Danny, about the discrimination that werewolves faced in Datlof, and also to offer Danny’s pack a job as security for Yoglabs; a post that Lewis hadn’t yet got around to filling. He’d been relying on camera footage to keep the building safe, something that he hadn’t been very comfortable with, not with all the hugely expensive equipment they had lying around in the labs. To his delight, Danny had instantly agreed to work for Lewis as security for Yoglabs, something that once it had been revealed to the public had further improved his polls, if only within the werewolf community. 

And now election day was drawing closer; three more days and the city would know who the next mayor of Datlof would be. And Lewis was about as stressed as he could be. So Simon had taken it upon himself to make Lewis relax and had told his friend to wait for him down in the reception of Yoglabs. And that’s where Lewis was waiting, watching the news on the TV in the reception as his stomach churned at the thought of the entire city of Datlof voting for their new mayor in only three days time.

Simon was grinning as he walked across the linoleum floor of the Yoglabs reception towards Lewis. Beside him Lalnable looked rather grumpy and Lewis swallowed nervously as he looked at Lalnable. Although he’d apologised profusely to his friend over their argument, things had still been slightly frosty between the two since. And with his already heightened stress, Lewis was imagining the worst with Lalnable’s frown; scenarios of new arguments began arising in his head, ending with Lalnable storming out of Yoglabs followed by Simon, and then the media would find out about the argument and the people of Datlof would loose confidence in him and he’d loose the election and then Danny and his pack would leave because he wasn’t mayor and Yoglabs would go bankrupt and Hannah would break up with him and,

“Lewis?” Lewis was suddenly snapped out of his train of thought and he glanced down at Simon standing in front of him. “Everything alright there?” Lewis grinned sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m just a little stressed, friend.” Simon chuckled slightly.

“That’s putting it lightly. You looked like you were watching the end of the world play out in your head just then.” Lewis laughed slightly too, but it was a stressed laugh.

“Yeah, something like that…” Simon reached up and slapped his hand onto Lewis’s back, knocking him forwards slightly. “Oof!”

“Come on then, spaceman, Lal and I have got a fun little trip for you, to help you relax.” Lewis glanced over at Lalnable who was grimacing slightly.

“This is entirely Simon’s idea, he just decided to drag me along too.” Lalnable muttered grumpily. Lewis suddenly started panicking that Lalnable didn’t want to go because of him.

“Well, I’m sure that wherever we’re going it’ll be fun.” Lewis said hurriedly, trying to diffuse the worry that had just piled itself on top of him. He paused for a moment and looked towards Simon. “Simon, where are we going?” The dwarf just winked and started walking towards the exit.

“You’ll see, spaceman, you’ll see.” Lewis frowned over at Lalnable who shrugged before he started walking away.

“He told me not to tell you, he wants it to be a surprise.” Lalnable said, talking over his shoulder as he followed after Simon. Lewis paused for a moment as he stared after the pair.

“Come on, spaceman! You’re holding us all up!” Lewis blinked and smiled slightly before he headed after the pair.

* * *

 

“A shopping centre?” Lewis raised his eyebrows as he looked over at Simon. The dwarf was grinning from ear to ear and Lalnable looked miserable and now Lewis knew why. Lalnable hated shopping.

“Don’t worry, this is only the first stop.” Simon said, ushering them inside the large building where crowds surged around them and they were sucked along with the crowds deeper into the labyrinth of shops. 

Lalnable frowned at the mass of people around him as Simon guided him and Lewis towards a smaller shop tucked between two mainstream clothing shops. Once inside the small shop, some of the noise of the crowds fell away and Simon stopped pushing Lewis and Simon around as they took in their new surroundings. Swimming trunks, goggles, inflatable pool toys  and towels lined the shelves of the shop and quiet music was playing from the speakers. Lewis turned to Simon, frowning.

“What do we need from here?” Simon’s grin just got wider and he pushed Lewis further into the shop.

“Grab yourself some swimming gear, spaceman, and we’ll soon be ready to go.” 

It took a surprisingly long time for all three of them to pick and choose some swimming trunks and anything else they might need. They’d all got themselves swimming trunks and towels and Lewis and Simon had decided to buy some goggles. Simon had also bought some inflatable armbands and an inflatable pool ring and by the time they left the shop and stepped back out into the rush of the shopping centre, each one of them was holding a bag full of their purchases, and in Simon’s case, two bags. 

“So now where?” Lewis asked, turning towards Simon.

“Follow me!” The dwarf announced loudly before walking off through the crowds, Lalnable and Lewis close on his trail.

Simon lead Lalnable and Lewis out of the shopping centre and through the winding streets of Datlof until he stopped in front of a large glass domed building. Looking through the glass Lewis caught sight of brightly coloured slides and a large diving board. And if he stood on his tiptoes he caught a glimpse of sparkling water.

“Ta da!” Simon announced, standing in front of the doors to the building. “Welcome to Datlof Ultimate Water Centre!” Lalnable grimaced slightly, but both Lewis and Simon could tell he didn’t really mean it and he was quite excited to be here. 

“A water centre?” Lewis asked, smiling at Simon.

“Not just any water centre, spaceman. This water centre has three water slides, a rapids section, diving boards and a wave pool!” Simon gushed excitedly. Lalnable shrugged.

“I guess it sounds pretty cool.” He said, unable to keep a small grin from sliding over his face. Lewis looked at Lalnable and Simon. He was overly excited for this trip, going to a pool that had all these things sounded amazing and Lewis couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather go with than Lalnable and Simon.

“So what are we waiting for? Come on, let’s go!” Lewis ran into the building, Simon and Lalnable chasing after him.

They wasted no time in paying for entry and then sped into the changing rooms where they donned their new purchases before meeting up once again in the showers before the pool. The air was hot and humid, and just beyond the showers they could hear the echoing splashes of people playing in the water. Simon had already inflated his arm bands and pool ring and was wearing all of them, his goggles over his eyes as he beamed up at Lalnable and Lewis. His swimming trunks were blue and had small yellow ducks printed all over them. Lalnable had tied his hair back in a loose ponytail to keep it out of his eyes while he swam and he’d found some plain dark blue swimming trunks. Lewis’s goggles were hanging around his neck and his swimming trunks were red with a couple of black stripes down the side. Lewis ducked into a shower briefly as Simon hopped from foot to foot with excitement.

“Come on, spaceman!” Lewis shook his head as he came out of the shower, splashing Lalnable and Simon with water as he did so, causing the pair to shout out as the water hit them.

“Alright I’m done.” Lewis said grinning at the two. 

Simon instantly dashed off towards the pool, almost but not quite running in his excitement. Lalnable followed next with Lewis bringing up the rear. Once inside, he could see Simon dashing towards the diving boards, moving faster than either of them had ever seen him move before. By the time Lalnable and Lewis caught up with him, Simon was on the top tier of the diving board, grinning madly.

“This is pretty high up, friend.” Lewis said, laughing slightly as he moved cautiously towards the edge of the diving board and gazing down at the pool below him. The pool area seemed a lot smaller now that he was standing above it and looking down on the shimmering surface. Behind Lewis Simon grinned as Lalnable whispered something in his ear. Lewis turned around to look at the pair. “Well, who’s going to jump first?” Lalnable and Simon shared a wicked grin before advancing towards Lewis.

“You!” Simon shouted just before he and Lalnable pushed Lewis off the side. 

Lewis went tumbling down through the air towards the water, crying out in surprise and a little bit of fear as he caught sight of the surface of the water rapidly approaching him. He hit the water with a loud splash and closed his eyes tightly to stop water from going in them. After a few moments he resurfaced and looked up at the top of the diving board and saw Lalnable bent over double laughing as Simon sat on the edge of the platform howling with laughter.

“Oi!” Lewis shouted up at the pair, but the large grin on his face betrayed his actual feelings. Simon managed to stop laughing long enough to pull himself to his feet and a moment later he called down to Lewis.

“Watch out, Lewis, I’m coming down!” Lewis started moving away from the landing zone of the diving board moments before Simon took a running jump off the diving board and curled himself into a ball. “Cannonball!” He screamed as he plummeted through the air, landing in the water near Lewis with a huge splash that pushed Lewis away from him. Simon quickly bobbed to the surface, his ring and arm bands keeping him afloat as he kicked his legs slightly, a huge grin plastered across his face.

“Come on, Lal! Your turn!” Lewis called up to Lalnable who was still standing at the top of the diving board. Lalnable seemed to hesitate for a moment as Simon paddled himself out of the way over to Lewis. 

“You can do it!” Simon called up encouragingly. Lalnable disappeared from view for a moment before he  jumped off the end of the platform and dived down towards the water.

Of the three he made the smallest wave on impact, but still Lewis and Simon cheered as he hit the water with a splash surfacing a few moments later, brushing his hair out of his eyes as it had come loose durning the dive.

“I can’t see anything!” Lalnable complained as he tried to part his hair. Lewis and Simon laughed as Lalnable grumbled and struggled wth his hair. “My hair tie came loose as I hit the water.”

“Don’t worry about it, friend.” Lewis said, grinning as he placed a hand on Lalnable’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

“Embrace the mane!” Simon called out waving his hands in the air dramatically. Lalnable sighed and gave up.

“Alright. But don’t blame me if I get lost in here, I can’t see a god damn thing!” Lewis chuckled as Simon set off swimming, kicking his legs furiously.

“This way, Lal!” he called out and still grumbling slightly, Lalnable started swimming after the loud splashing sounds that Simon was making. Still grinning, Lewis quickly followed suit, wondering where the dwarf was taking them now.

The trio spent hours in the pool laughing together and having a good time. And Simon’s aim of getting Lewis to relax worked wonders because by the time they’d dried themselves off and left the pool, Lewis had almost completely forgotten about the looming election. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to add on the election to this chapter, but I'm super tired because I currently have a cold and it's draining all my energy, so the election will be next week's chapter (and it might be quite short so I'm sorry about that)
> 
> Yay for illnesses!


	14. Election Night

“So where are we going again?” Lewis asked as he and Hannah walked along the bustling street. Her hand was intertwined with his and she was leading him through the crowds, trying to ignore the posters everywhere screaming the date of the election that was now only two days away. 

“I’m taking you to meet some friends of mine.” Hannah said, and Lewis could almost imagine the eye-roll that accompanied it.

“I know, but like where?” 

“The Bean Bag.” 

“Oh right.” Lewis could almost sense Hannah rolling her eyes again. 

Now that Lewis knew where they were headed, he didn’t need to rely on Hannah guiding him and he sped up slightly so they were actually walking side by side. It didn’t take long for them to reach the little coffee shop, nestled between two large clothes shops. There were a couple of outdoor tables and chairs by the side of the shop and painted onto the window that overlooked the street in orange and gold was the name of the coffee shop; The Bean Bag. Hannah pushed open the white painted wooden door and walked in, Lewis following behind. The pleasant smell of coffee filled the air and as the door swung shut the sounds of the street died away and some quiet jazz was playing over the speakers. The walls had been covered in silvery grey planks and there was a twisting metal staircase lead up to a second floor which was hidden from view by the metal railings. The seating on this floor was a mixture of old leather sofas and low wooden tables and high metal stools surrounding tall counter-type tables. There were a couple of people sat at tables with laptops open, steaming cups of coffee and tea beside them as they worked. There were two barista’s; one was serving a harried looking man and the other tiding behind the counter. On some of the leather sofas by the window, a couple sat together, holding hands and staring out at the people passing by on the street. One was a strong muscled woman with a head full of dark brown curly hair, held back from her face by a red scrap of fabric. There was a leather jacket resting beside her and she was wearing olive green cargo trousers and a red tank top. Her eyes were blue and her skin was pale. The woman beside here was very obviously pregnant and she was wearing a purple dress and white leggings and her long red hair was tied up in a ponytail. Her pale skin had a few freckles scattered over it and her eyes were a bright blue. Hannah let go of Lewis’s hand as she caught sight of the couple and went over to them, smiling widely.

“Hi, Hannah!” The woman with the brown curly hair said, standing up and going over to hug Hannah. Lewis wandered over to the table as Hannah let go of the curly haired woman and gently reached down and hugged the other woman who hadn’t stood up.

“Hannah, I haven’t seen you in ages, how have you been, ooh! Is this your boyfriend? Didn’t you say his name was Lewis? Hi, Lewis, you’re going to be the next mayor aren’t you? You’re totally going to be the best mayor,”

“Zoey, shh.” The woman with curly hair said, gently holding her hand over Zoey’s mouth, smiling as did so. “Let Hannah introduce him before you bombard him with questions.” Hannah grinned as the woman took her hand away from Zoey’s mouth and sat down next to her again, holding her hand tightly. Hannah took hold of Lewis’s hand and sat herself down opposite the couple with Lewis beside her.

“Alright, so introductions. Lewis, meet Zoey and Fiona.” Hannah gestured to Zoey and then to the curly haired woman, still holding his hand. “Zoey and Fiona, meet my boyfriend Lewis.” Fiona held out her hand for Lewis to shake.

“Nice to meet you, Lewis.” She said, smiling widely at him. Lewis shook her hand, surprised at the strong grip she had. 

“Hi, Lewis!” Zoey said, waving at Lewis from across the small coffee table.

“Hi.” Lewis replied, smiling at the pair. He’d only been in their presence for a few moments but he liked them already.

“Where’s Rythian? He’s supposed to be coming, isn’t he? I’m sure I told you to invite him too.” The smile fell from Fiona’s face for a moment and even Zoey looked down.

“He said he was still ill.” Fiona explained. Hannah frowned in sympathy.

“Poor guy. He’s barely had any time to relax since he got here, what with having to find a job and coping with all the bugs he’s been catching.” 

“Yeah, I feel really bad for him, and I really want to go visit him and make sure he’s ok, but I can’t risk getting ill right now, but I really want to see him cause I haven’t seen him in ages, and I really hope he’s ok,”

“Yeah, we all hope he’s ok.” Hannah said, cutting across Zoey’s constant speaking. “I’ll check up on him soon, make sure he’s doing ok.” She turned to look at Lewis. “You’ve already met Rythian, though, haven’t you?” Lewis stared at Hannah blankly.

“Have I?” Hannah smirked.

“Yeah, you met him briefly once when you were leaving my house, and he was arriving. Tall, dark skinned, kind of unusual looking, wears a mask…” Hannah gave a brief description of her friend to jog Lewis’s memory.

“Oh! Oh him! Yeah, I met him that one time, but we didn’t really talk much.” Hannah nodded.

“Yeah, him. I’ll have to introduce you properly one day.” Hannah sighed before changing the topic. “Alright, does anyone want anything to drink? I’m going to get myself a tea.”

“I’ll have a tea too please.” Fiona said, smiling up at Hannah as she stood up.

“Alright. Zoey?”

“Oh, I’ll have a glass of milk please, I mean as long as you don’t mind paying for it,”

“No, it’s my treat.” Hannah said, smiling. “And, Lewis?”

“Tea please, Hannah.” He said, tilting his head up to look at her.

“Ok, so three teas and a milk. I can do that. Lewis, do you want to help me carry the drinks over?” She said, gently patting his shoulder.

“Alright.” Lewis climbed to his feet and followed Hannah over to the counter where she ordered the drinks and then leant against the counter looking at Lewis as they waited for the drinks to be made. 

“So… what do you think of Zoey and Fiona so far?” Hannah asked, smiling at Lewis. He grinned back and lent against the counter beside her.

“They seem nice.” He replied genuinely. “Zoey seems like she could talk the hind leg off a donkey though.” He said, his grin getting wider. Hannah laughed.

“That she could, but it’s always a pleasure listening to her ramble on.” She said, the smile on her face turning soft as she glanced over at the couple. They were leaning close to one another, their foreheads touching as they had a quiet conversation between themselves.

“So how did you meet them?”

“I met Fiona a number of years ago now, we train at the same boxing club and we’ve been sparring partners for a long time. And we just sort of became friends through that. And I met Zoey through Rythian, she used to be his neighbour until she moved in with Fiona.”

“Here are your drinks, that’ll be six pounds fifty please.” The barista said, setting down the last of the drinks on the counter and totting up the bill. Hannah pushed herself off the counter and pulled her purse out of pocket.

“Do you want me to pay for them?” Lewis asked as Hannah started rummaging around for the correct change.

“Nah, I’ve got this.” She replied before handing the waiting barista the money.

“Thank you.” The barista said, smiling at Hannah after he counted out the money to check the correct amount was there and putting it into the till. Hannah grabbed two of the teas.

“Thanks.” She called out as she moved away from the counter, leaving Lewis to grab the last tea and the glass of milk. They returned to where Zoey and Fiona were sitting and soon everyone was settled with their drinks.

“So how long have you two been together, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lewis said, after taking a sip from his tea and placing the cup back down on it’s saucer. Zoey and Fiona looked at each other and Lewis could tell they were working it out.

“Oh, about seven months in total probably, Hannah introduced us when we all decided to go out for a meal because I was spending the nights sleeping at hers, and then we saw each other a couple of times after that and it just sort of happened, like there was no set day when it happened, but we really hit it off on that first day and we just kept going from there.” Lewis was smiling as he listened to Zoey’s ramblings, and glancing over at Fiona he could see her smiling too.

“Yeah, she was just the lovely woman I’ve been looking for.” She said, grinning at Zoey.

“Fiona, you’re embarrassing me!” Zoey said, blushing. “But Fiona is the best, she’s amazing at massages and she’s been really good at keeping unwanted exes away from the flat and she can fight, she’s like this amazing superhero and she’s just amazing! So how did you two meet? I mean I know Hannah’s a reporter, and she’s probably cornered you wanting to get an interview or something but, did you meet before that?”

“We actually first met before I decided to run for mayor.” Lewis said, glancing towards Hannah and smiling. He still had a slight scar in his side from that encounter. She grinned back.

“Yeah, I watched as this scrawny lanky guy managed to fight off three blokes with a sword of all things.” Hannah said, grinning at Zoey and Fiona.

“A sword? That’s awesome! How come you have a sword? Where did you get it? Do you still have it? How come you were allowed to walk around the streets carrying it?”

“It was a gift from a friend.” Lewis said, before Zoey could fire off another question.

“And Mr. Mayor here duped people into believing that it was a fake sword.” Hannah said, grinning and elbowing Lewis. He grinned sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, I mean I’m glad I was carrying it that time.” He said. Hannah laughed.

“I’ve got to say, I was pretty impressed that you managed to fight them all off on your own. But you still needed me to fix you up a little afterwards.” She grinned slyly.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Lewis said indignantly. “I’m sure I would’ve been fine!” Everyone laughed. 

“Yeah, you probably would have been fine honestly.” Hannah said, ruffling Lewis’s hair. “But I couldn’t let you have all the glory.” She winked. Lewis chuckled slightly.

“Well it did save me money at the very least.” He said, elbowing her gently. She shoved his shoulder.

“Alright, enough fighting you two. Or will I have to break it up?” Fiona said, grinning. Lewis and Hannah pulled apart, smiling.

They stayed in the coffee shop for a number of hours, chatting and getting to know each other before with a yawn Zoey announced that she needed to head home and have a nap. At which point the two couple split and went their separate ways. And then Hannah and Lewis split apart as he headed to Yoglabs to do some work and Hannah headed home to finish writing an article that she was hoping to get printed in the news tomorrow.

* * *

 

The day of the election dawned grey and overcast and Lewis struggled to pull himself out of bed. Through a crack in the curtains, grey light was shining onto Lewis’s face and he blinked his eyes open slightly, rolling over to check the time. Beside him Hannah sighed in her sleep and rolled closer towards him, wrapping her arms around him. On the headboard of the bed Hannah’s owl, Athena, ruffled her feathers quietly as she slept. Lewis let Hannah embrace him in her sleep for a few more minutes before he brushed her hair from her face and murmured quietly in her ear.

“I need to get up, Hannah.” Hannah opened one eye slightly and looked up at Lewis.

“No you don’t.” She replied quietly, snuggling closer to him. He smiled and hugged her tightly.

“Yes I do.” 

“Nope.” He smiled again.

“I’ve got to go to work.” Lewis paused and thought for a moment. “And it’s election day too.” He said, dread and worry creeping into him. Hannah opened her eye again and squinted up at Lewis.

“Is that today?” She hummed thoughtfully as she closed her eyes again. “Well you’d better win.” Lewis chuckled slightly, but he knew that she was only half joking. He knew that she thought Doug Drumpf was a moron, but then anyone with half a brain cell did, and she had taken James Black as her sworn enemy due to his stance on equality and women’s rights.

“I’ll try not to let you down.” He said softly, stroking her hair.

“Mmm, you’d better not.” She murmured, still hugging Lewis close. Lewis played with her blonde hair for a few moments before he pulled himself away from her grasp and got up out of the bed. Hannah groaned and blinked sleepily up at Lewis. “I was going back to sleep and you woke me up again.” She complained. On the headboard Athena opened her eyes and stared unblinkingly at Lewis. He grinned.

“Well it’s time to get up. Otherwise I’ll be late for work, and for everything else that’s happening today too.”

* * *

 

Lewis had only been able to spend a couple of hours at Yoglabs before his duties as a candidate for the next mayor of Datlof pulled him away, and once he’d left the building he spent the rest of the day smiling and waving for cameras as he talked to voters and interviewers. The day passed in a whirl and by the time the polling stations closed at 10pm the grey skies were dark and heavily overcast with the promise of rain later on in the night. Lewis was in a school hall with Lalnable and Simon as the voting slips were taken away so that they could begin the long process of counting them out. Hannah was around somewhere, doing what Lewis wasn’t sure. He didn’t know if she was taking a night off from being Lomadia to cover the election results or if she had decided to forgo being a reporter. Although knowing Hannah he suspected that former was the correct assumption. Now that the votes were being counted, Lewis was a bundle of nerves and nothing Simon or Lalnable could say or do was helping him to calm down. The exit polls had suggested that despite the favour towards Lewis in the days upcoming to the election, the results were going close between him and James Black and he was panicking, knowing there was nothing he could do now except sit and wait.

“But what if he wins?” Lewis asked, looking at Simon as he sat on the floor of the school hall, Lalnable standing nearby as the dwarf sat beside Lewis.

“Then he wins, Lewis. And there’s nothing you can do about it. But you’ll be fine. You’ve got a lot of support,”

“But the exit polls, Simon, they’re so close!” Simon reached up and patted Lewis on the shoulder.

“Chill out, spaceman. If you freak out too much the cameras will start filming you having a mental breakdown.” Simon grinned as Lewis groaned and held his head in his hands.

“So how long is this going to take anyway? When do we find out the results?” Simon shrugged.

“I have no idea.” He said cheerfully. Lewis groaned again.

“We could be waiting here all night!” Lalnable wandered over to the pair.

“Yeah, I think we will be here all night.” He said, looking over his shoulder.

“What?!” Lewis stared up at Lalnable who just shrugged.

“I overheard some reporters talking about how the results would be known in the early hours of the morning. That’s all.” Lewis groaned for a third time and buried his head back into his hands.

“Cheer up, spaceman!” Simon said, elbowing Lewis. “You’ll be spending the night with us!” Lewis couldn’t help but grin at his friend.

The night drew on and as the clocks ticked past midnight and on to early morning the heavens opened and rain started pouring down outside as inside the schools and halls, people worked tirelessly to count the hundreds and thousands of votes. And as the night drew on, Lewis found his anxiety passing away to boredom and then tiredness and it wasn’t long before he found a quiet corner to curl up in and go to sleep. He figured someone would wake him up if anything important happened.

“Lewis! Lewis, wake up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FUCKING FORGOT TO INTRODUCE ZOEY AND FIONA AND RYTHIAN TO THE STORY AND THAT'S WHY THE CHAPTER IS A DAY LATE BECAUSE I'M AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT
> 
> But hey, they're in the story now!
> 
> Rythian will be appearing more than just that little mention of him, and Zoey and Fiona will be appearing again too, so don't worry :)
> 
> And if anyone's curious, the voting system is based on the UK voting system because I know (and sort of understand) the UK voting system... XD
> 
> (And thanks to my friend for helping me figure out how to write the end of the chapter)


	15. A New Mayor

“Lewis! Lewis, wake up!”

“Hmm, what?” Lewis mumbled sleepily, blinking his eyes open. Simon was standing above him beaming from ear to ear and Lalnable was standing a little way behind, also grinning.

“You won, Lewis! You’re the mayor of Datlof!”

“What? I what?” Lewis sat himself up, still shaking the clutches of sleep from himself. Simon grabbed hold of Lewis’s shoulders excitedly and began jumping up and down.

“You won! You won! You won!” The dwarf chanted in time with his jumping.

“I won?” Both Simon and Lalnable nodded. “I won!” 

Lewis laughed and scrambled to his feet before he grabbed Simon and pulled him into a tight hug before he attempted to pick the dwarf up and swing him around. Half way through the swing, Lewis lost his balance and both he and Simon went crashing to the floor laughing loudly together. Lewis clambered to his feet and ran out the fire exit, which had been propped open to let the stuffy air in the building circulate, straight into the rain. Once outside in the pouring rain Lewis screamed out, dancing around and punching the sky triumphantly. Simon and Lalnable were standing in the doorway ginning and laughing at Lewis. There was a loud bark and Lewis looked to the side just as a large black shape rugby-tackled him to the floor. The large black shape began vigorously licking Lewis with a large scratchy tongue. Lewis started laughing uncontrollably as the tongue started tickling him and he reached up to try and push what appeared to be a very, very large dog off of him. Lewis managed to escape from underneath the dog with the help of some people, the dogs’ owners he assumed.

“Need a hand, Mr. Mayor?” Lewis looked up and saw the familiar face of Danny standing above him, one hand holding back the large black dog and the other reaching down for Lewis to pull himself up with. Lewis grinned and grabbed hold of Danny’s hand and got to his feet again before he looked down at the dog, who now that he was looking closer at it, was indeed a very big dog. The dog was half the height of Danny, who wasn’t by any means small, and it was a small miracle that he was able to hold the dog back. Danny clapped Lewis on his shoulders, taking a small step forwards as the dog pulled hard, straining to get to Lewis. “Alright there?” Lewis chuckled.

“I’m fine. He’s a rather excitable dog, isn’t he?” Danny grimaced.

“Well you could say that. This idiot is so fucked right now he can’t even remember how to turn back into a human.” Lewis blinked and stared down at the dog. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth as he panted, still straining against Danny’s firm grip. And now that Lewis was paying attention, he could indeed smell weed that seemed to be emanating from the dog.

“Wait… is that…?” Danny sighed.

“You’re looking at the stupidest werewolf in the whole of Datlof. Say hi to Jacob, Lewis.” Lewis stared at the big black dog for a moment before he burst out laughing, doubling over and Jacob leapt forwards to lick at Lewis’s face again, letting out a slightly strangled noise as Danny pulled him back from Lewis. “Get a hold of yourself, Jacob!” Danny grunted as he struggled against Jacob’s strong pull. Lewis straightened himself up slightly, wiping a mixture of tears and rainwater from his eyes.

“I can’t believe he’s so stoned he can’t change back into a human!” Danny made a face halfway between a grin and a grimace.

“I’d find it funny, only he’s done it before.” He said with the tiredness of someone who has put up with far too much shit in their life.

“Oh my god what an idiot.” Lewis said grinning at Danny and Jacob. 

“Hey, Lewis!” Lewis turned towards the door where Simon was shouting from. “Get your butt back inside, some reporters want to have an interview with you!”

“Alright.” Lewis called back before beginning to job over to the door.

“Lewis,” He turned back and looked at Danny who was still struggling to hold onto Jacob, “congratulations on becoming mayor. You deserve it!” 

“Thank you!” Lewis said, grinning. 

He waved at Danny before jogging back inside the school hall, shaking rain from his hair. Almost as soon as he walked through the door he was accosted by reporters with microphones and cameras were shoved in his face.

“Lewis! Lewis! How do you feel about being the next mayor of Datlof?”

“What do you have to say to James Black and Doug Drumpf?”

“What are your plans now?”

Lewis was bombarded by questions, and still grinning he waved his hands, getting the reporters to quieten down. Simon managed to worm his way through the crowd so he was standing beside his friend and even Lalnable managed to push through so he was standing on the other side of Lewis. 

“Alright, lets do this one at a time.” Lewis said before pointing at a reporter through the small crowd.

“What do you have to say to your rivals, James Black and Doug Drumpf?” The reporter in question spoke up. Microphones and cameras turned to Lewis, waiting for his response.

“Well, James was a worthy opponent. He knew what he was doing, but I beat him this time. As for Doug…” Lewis trailed off and shrugged, still grinning madly, his hair dripping water down his face. “You tried and no one can fault you for that. But I’d like to say a big thank you to both of them, because without either of them, this election wouldn’t have happened, and I wouldn’t be standing here mayor now. And I’d like to say to Amanda Turner, if she’s watching this, that I hope I can be a worthy replacement for you.” As Lewis finished speaking, the reporters spoke up again, clamouring for attention. Lewis picked another from the group and silence fell once more.

“How do you feel about being the next mayor of Datlof, and the responsibility you’ve now taken on?” Lewis’s grin widened as the reporter asked their question.

“As you can probably tell, I’m ecstatic about winning! This is fantastic! As for the responsibility, I’m sure I’ll be able to manage. I’ve got two great friends and an amazing girlfriend to help me, and I couldn’t have done this without them.” Before any of the reporters could ask any more questions, the fire door to the school hall burst open and Hannah ran in, her own hair dripping and a couple of feathers drifting to the floor as she pulled her goggles from her face, throwing them to the floor as she leapt at Lewis, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in for a kiss. She pulled away and grabbed his hands tightly.

“You won! I’m so proud of you! Well done!” Lewis grinned before he pulled Hannah back in for another kiss.

“Oi! Get a room, lovebirds!” Simon shouted, elbowing Lewis in the leg. Hannah and Lewis broke apart and she took a step back as Lewis smiled ruefully towards Simon.

“Sorry. Where were we?” Lewis asked, looking back at the reporters standing before him.

The questions continued for another another few minutes before the reporters backed away to gather the information of the night together for the morning news. This left Lewis, Simon, Lalnable and Hannah alone. Lalnable had wandered away from the group slightly, occasionally sending glares over in Hannah and Lewis’s direction. Simon reached up and clapped Lewis on the back.

“Well done, spaceman, I knew you had it in you!” Lewis smiled and reached down, resting his arm over Simon’s shoulder.

“Thanks, friend. This has been a wild ride, but I won and I really couldn’t have done it without you. Especially these past few days. You really helped me out.” Simon grinned.

“I know.” Hannah walked up to Lewis’s other side and linked her arm through his.

“Well done. You did good. Now don’t disappoint me, I’ve got high expectations for you, Mr. Mayor.” Hannah said sweetly, but Lewis felt a shiver of terror run down his spine.

“Ah, aha, I’ll try my best, Hannah.” Hannah smiled and pecked Lewis on the cheek. 

“Good.” Simon yawned loudly and stretched his arms above his head.

“I’m absolutely exhausted. Let’s go home.” The dwarf said once he’d finished his yawn.

“Sounds like a plan, friend.” Lewis turned to look for Lalnable. “Are you coming Lal?” Lalnable shrugged.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” He wandered over to the group and they left through the fire exit, Athena swooping down from the skies and landing on Hannah’s shoulder. It was still raining, but it had lessened slightly, but even so, by the time they got back to their respective homes, everyone had been soaked to some degree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOGGO!!!! You may remember Jacob from a couple of chapters back, and let me tell you know, this loveable idiot will be becoming a very important character in future chapters, so I hope you're ready!
> 
> Also, apologies for how late and short this chapter is, as I've mentioned I'm back at uni now and I'm just trying to sort my life out a little, which for me means not leaving all my uni work to the time when I would normally spend writing. But hey ho, I'll get my ass kicked into gear at some point :) In the meantime, please bear with me!
> 
> MANDATORY REST STOP! If you are reading this as a completed work, this is a mandatory rest stop! Close the tab, get some food/rest/something to drink. It will still be here when you get back :)


	16. Ideas

“I just haven’t seen him, or heard from him in a while and I’m getting a bit worried.” Hannah said to Lewis, looking down at the book she was supposedly reading. 

The pair were in one of the labs at Yoglabs and had taken over equal halves. Hannah had one half filled with books and magical equipment and Athena had perched herself on a high up shelf and was asleep. Lewis’s half was filled with half finished experiments and different fragments of circuitry and wires covering the tops. Outside the window the skies were grey and dark as rain fell steadily and behind the thick cloud cover they both knew that the sun would be beginning to sink down behind the horizon. Today was one of the first mildly quiet days the pair had had since Lewis had been elected mayor; there had been lots of paperwork to sort out as he took over the role from his predecessor along with interviews and other such formalities. And alongside all of that, Yoglabs was beginning to outgrow the building that it was currently based in; people were having to share lab space and everything was becoming cramped and tempers were beginning to flare between employees. Lewis was trying to find another suitable building in the city where Yoglabs could be relocated to. Simon couldn’t help because he didn’t know the requirements needed for the new building and while Lalnable knew what would make a suitable upgrade, he had been shut up in his lab most days, leaving the responsibility to Lewis. And so the past month had passed by in a blur and today Hannah and Lewis were taking the opportunity to spend some quiet time chatting and working on their own things. Lewis was tapping away at a computer, writing a couple of notes down on a spare piece of paper, but as Hannah finished speaking he looked up at her with a small frown on his face.

“Well why don’t you go see him?” They were talking about Rythian, someone who Lewis still hadn’t properly met yet. Hannah sighed and closed the book, deciding to abandon it all together.

“I feel horrible for saying this, but I haven’t had spare time lately.  What with helping you get yourself sorted and crime’s been on the rise lately, you should really try and do something about that by the way,” she looked pointedly over at Lewis before continuing on, “which means less and less sleep for me. I’ve been absolutely exhausted these past few days. Even Athena has been sleeping a lot more than normal.” Hannah glanced over at Athena who ruffled her feathers slightly as she glanced up upon hearing her name before she went back to sleep. Lewis’s gaze followed Hannah’s over to Athena and he hummed thoughtfully as he looked at the owl.

“Have you tried calling him?” Hannah shrugged.

“A couple of times, but he’s never picked up. I mean for all I know, I could be calling him while he’s at work. I don’t know his schedule.”

“Texts?” She shrugged again.

“A couple every so often, but he never replies.” Hannah was thoughtful for a moment. “I just don’t know, Lewis.” Lewis pushed his chair away from the computer and leant back, his hands resting in his lap.

“You’re not doing anything this weekend, are you?” She shook her head. “Set some time aside to visit him then.” Hannah nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds alright. I’ll drop him a text and let him know I’m thinking of coming over.” Hannah pulled out her phone and began texting as the door to the lab opened and Simon walked in, followed by Lalnable. 

“Hi, Simon. Hi, Lal.” Lewis said, smiling over at his friends. Hannah glanced up briefly from her phone.

“Hey.” 

“Hello, Hannah!” Simon beamed over at Hannah before he ran up to Lewis. Lalnable said nothing but sneered slightly in Hannah’s direction as he followed after Simon. “Lewis, Lalnable has had a really cool idea!”

“What is it?” Lewis asked, looking expectantly up at Lalnable. Lalnable shrugged and turned slightly away from Lewis, glancing towards Hannah, the sneer returning to his face.

“I don’t know if I should bother you with my stupid ideas, you seem pretty busy with her.” Lewis frowned slightly at Lalnable.

“If I was busy, I would say. But Simon said you’ve had a cool idea and I want to hear it.” Lewis said, trying to remain amicable, despite how Lalnable’s comment had irritated him; he didn’t want things to escalate like they’d done last time and especially not in front of Simon. 

“Yeah, so you can take it and say it was your own idea.” Simon was frowning up at Lalnable and Lewis was becoming more stressed as it appeared that the conversation was headed in the same direction as before. Hannah had finished texting Rythian and she’d put her phone away, turning her attention to the conversation that was taking place.

“Look, Lal, I swear I won’t steal your idea. I just want to know what it is.” Lalnable sneered and Lewis thought he was about to retort when Simon butted in.

“Come on, Lalnable! I want to see what Lewis thinks of it!” Lalnable thought for a moment before he shrugged and leant against the table, crossing his arms.

“Well, Simon and I were talking together, and I had this thought, ‘cause we were talking about things like terminal illnesses and how they could be cured,” as Lalnable spoke, the tension that had been building began to dissipate, helped along by Simon hopping from foot to foot, unable to keep still with the excitement, “and so I thought, what if we could clone people?”

“We could clone people and cure them of their illnesses durning the cloning process!” Simon jumped in, talking animatedly. Lewis frowned thoughtfully and absently scratched at his beard.

“I wonder if cloning someone would cure their disease? Can the cloning process be modified in such a way that it’s possible to even do that?” Lewis murmured thoughtfully, mostly to himself. He suddenly looked up at Lalnable and grinned. “What am I talking about, we’ve got to clone someone first!”

“Does this mean you think it’s a good idea?” Simon asked. Lewis grinned over at Simon.

“I think it’s a great idea! Lal, would you be willing to do research into it? I mean, I don’t want to shove this on you if you don’t want to, but you already have a lot of knowledge on human biology and this was your idea in the first place, I don’t want to take it away from you.” Lalnable was nodding, a smile creeping onto his face.

“Yeah, I can get started on some research, not sure how long it will take though because I’m pretty busy with some other experiments.”

“Take as much time as you need, friend.” Lewis smiled at the pair.

“If we can actually pull this off this’ll be amazing!” Lalnable said, pushing himself off from the table, smiling excitedly. On the other side of the room Hannah’s phone pinged as she received an incoming text. Everyone glanced over to her as she looked down at her phone.

“Was that Rythian?” Lewis asked, leaning in his chair to look over at Hannah. She read the text a couple of times before she looked up at Lewis.

“No. It was Fiona. Zoey’s gone into labour.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, a chapter that's been posted on time!
> 
> And spoilers for the next chapter, a certain ender mage will be making an appearance... ;)


	17. A New Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the characters in this chapter is depressed, and while I don't think it should have too much of an affect on people, I'm just letting you know.
> 
> Also, there's a decent amount of hospitals in this chapter (completely unrelated to the depression) just in case hospitals aren't your thing (although the hospital stuff is pretty tame too)
> 
> This is just so you know :)

Zoey had been in hospital since around 5pm yesterday, and in the small hours of the next day, August the 28th, she had given birth to a healthy baby girl. At least according to Fiona who had been texting Hannah throughout the night. And a few hours after Hannah and Lewis had woken up, they had received texts from both Zoey and Fiona, inviting them to the hospital to visit the new baby. And so the pair were en-route to the hospital. Hannah was ecstatic; she couldn’t wait to see how Zoey was doing, and to meet the newborn. Lewis on the other hand was more nervous than excited. He’d had very little experience with babies and while he was pleased for Zoey that everything had gone well, he felt like he didn’t know her quite well enough to be visiting her so soon after giving birth. But she and Fiona had invited him as well as Hannah and he knew it would be very rude to turn down an invitation like that.

The walk to the hospital didn’t take long and when they got there they were quickly shown up to Zoey’s room. The nurse leading them to the room knocked on the door before walking on, Lewis and Hannah following close behind. The room was fairly sparse, like most hospital rooms, but it had a couple of armchairs that looked relatively comfy and a large window that looked out on the city around them. Zoey was sat up in the bed with Fiona snuggled up beside her and in her arms wrapped up in a blanket was her baby girl. Zoey looked up at Hannah and Lewis as they arrived, a beaming smile quickly spreading over her whole face. She looked slightly tired, with grey bags under her eyes but it was clear for everyone in the room to see how overjoyed she was.

“Is everything alright, while I’m here? Do you want me to get anything?” The nurse asked as Lewis and Hannah stepped closer to the bed.

“No, thank you.” Zoey said. The nurse nodded, smiled and left the room closing the door behind them. Zoey was still beaming up at Lewis and Hannah and Fiona slid off the bed slightly so her feet were resting on the ground and she too was smiling from ear to ear. “Hannah, Lewis, look, come and meet my daughter! Her name’s Hope Charlotte and I love her so much! I can’t believe I’m actually a mum! And Fiona’s a mum too! We’re both mums! This is so amazing and I’m so happy!” Zoey gushed, still beaming from ear to ear. Fiona wrapped her arm around Zoey and hugged her tightly.

“This is an amazing time for us.” Fiona said, smiling up at Zoey for a moment before she turned her gaze to Lewis and Hannah. “Sit down, you two, don’t stand around. Make yourselves at home.”

Lewis turned and pulled one of the armchairs closer to the bed as Hannah moved closer to Zoey’s side and looked down at Hope, smiling at her.

“Isn’t she just gorgeous?” Hannah said softly, as Lewis settled himself in the chair.

“She’s beautiful.” Fiona murmured in agreement.

“She’s a little wrinkly, ‘cause all newborns are like that, but I think that she’s got my nose and her hair is so soft and fluffy, although you can’t see it at the moment because it’s under this little hat, but it’s the softest thing I’ve ever touched in my life!” Hannah and Fiona exchanged a smile as they listened to Zoey. “Do you want to hold her, Hannah?” She asked, holding out Hope towards Hannah.

“I’d love to.” Hannah replied, gently taking Hope from Zoey’s arms and cradling in her in her own. “Hello there, Hope!” Hannah cooed softly as she rocked Hope in her arms. 

Curious, Lewis stood up and moved closer to Hannah so he could get a better look at Hope. Wrapped up in a blanket with a little pink hat on her head and only her small face was showing. Zoey was right when she said she was a little wrinkly. Hope’s face was wrinkled, and her eyes were closed tightly as she slept, one tiny hand poking out from the blanket. Lewis moved his hand up to her and gently placed his finger by Hope’s hand. Unconsciously she wrapped her little fingers around Lewis’s and gripped on tightly. He smiled as he looked at her. He still didn’t know anything about babies, but that wasn’t stopping him from being happy for Zoey and Fiona and their little baby girl.

“How much does she weigh?” Hannah asked, glancing up from Hope to look towards Zoey and Fiona.

“Six pounds and eight ounces.” Zoey announced proudly, the beaming smile, that had appeared when Hannah and Lewis first walked in, still on her face. “You guys don’t happen to know where Rythian is do you?” Both Hannah and Lewis looked up at Zoey. “Only I sent him a couple of texts and asked him if he’d come and visit and he hasn’t replied and I’m just really worried about him.” Hannah frowned slightly.

“He’s not been replying to my texts for a while now. I think I’ll go over to his today and make sure everything’s alright, and if he’s up for it I’ll bring him to visit you.” Hannah said, gently handing Hope over to Fiona and pulling out her phone. “I’ll send him a text, to see if he replies. I’ll visit anyway, just to see him because I haven’t seen him in months.” Zoey nodded as Hannah quickly wrote out a text and sent it.

“You have to make sure he visits, Hannah, I want him to be Hope’s godfather. And I want him to see her, I want him to be a part of her life as she’s growing up.” Hannah looked over at Zoey and smiled.

“I’ll make sure he visits. I promise.”

* * *

 

It was about an hour after Hannah had sent her text to Rythian, and now she and Lewis were standing outside his flat. Hannah had never got a reply from Rythian so she’d asked Lewis to send a text and unsurprisingly, he hadn’t got a reply either. The block of flats that Rythian lived in were old and rundown; there were damp patches in the ceilings of the corridors and unsavoury stains on the floors. The block of flats resided in one of the rougher areas of Datlof and as a result of this, the prices of the flats in this area were cheap and affordable to those who had minimum wage jobs, or were living off benefits. But just because they were affordable didn’t mean that they were in any way nice. Lewis had never been to this part of the city before and he was appalled by the poverty he saw around him. He knew from Danny that it was in these rougher areas that a lot of werewolves and werewolf packs existed; it was hard for them to get any kind of jobs, let along jobs that paid well. 

The door to Rythian’s flat had been painted blue at one point, but the blue paint was faded and peeling, stained by years of rain and damp at the bottom. There was a set of metal numbers hammered into the door reading out 356 and the letterbox had the days mail poking out of it, the edges of the letters slightly damp from the light drizzle that was in the air. Hannah lifted her hand and knocked loudly at the door.

“Hey, Ryth! You in there?” Hannah called out as she finished knocking. Lewis glanced around as Hannah took a step back from the door.

“Do you think he’s in?” Lewis asked. She shrugged.

“He might be at work. Although…” She trailed off as she frowned at the door. “Come on, Ryth. Open up!” She knocked again.

“Although?” Lewis enquired, frowning slightly at Hannah. She was about to reply when they heard the clicking of the lock turning and the door swung inwards.

Rythian was almost as tall as Lewis, only about an inch or so shorter, and he was very thin and skinny, too thin to be healthy. His face had a gaunt look about it and there were large dark circles under his bright teal blue eyes. Rythian’s hair was dark brown and was swept back from his face. His dark skin seemed to have a slight blue tint to it. Rythian was wearing black trousers and a black tank top, and hanging around his neck was a long beautifully made dark purple scarf. Hannah’s eyes swept over Rythian quickly as she looked at him, a smile breaking out over her face. Lewis smiled too, to be polite.

“Hey. I thought you weren’t going to open the door then.” Hannah said, smiling warmly at Rythian. His face twitched into a smile, but it didn’t quite seem to reach his eyes.

“Hey.” He murmured quietly, an unusual accent thick in his voice. As he spoke, Lewis caught sight of sharp pointed teeth inside Rythian’s mouth.

“Can we come inside?” Hannah asked gently. 

Rythian nodded his head slightly and disappeared back inside, leaving the door to his apartment open. Hannah walked in, followed by Lewis who closed the door behind them. As they walked into the apartment, they instantly started shivering from the cold air in the room, and as the door swung shut, they were enveloped in darkness.

“Jesus Christ, it’s freezing in here!” Hannah exclaimed as she navigated her way across the room towards the window and opened up the curtains, sending the grey light of day shining around the apartment. “And you need to get some light in here too.”

“I am sorry, I was sleeping.” Rythian replied quietly. His English, although good, was slightly broken and it was clear that he’d had little chance to develop his language skills.

In the grey light, Lewis looked around Rythian’s apartment. It was small. Rythian’s bed was up a small set of steps and underneath the bed there was a small storage space and a door that Lewis assumed lead to the apartment’s bathroom. The kitchen had a tiny stove and a meagre amount of counter space and in the corner of the room there was a fridge-freezer. There was an old table surrounded by a couple of wooden chairs and looking towards the window was an old sofa. There was very little in the way of personal belongings lying about and the whole apartment felt very empty, despite being lived in. Hannah glanced towards Lewis before she looked at Rythian more closely.

“Would you like a drink?” Rythian asked, turning away from Hannah and going to open the cupboards, pulling out a half empty packet of instant coffee.

“Have you got any tea?” Lewis asked, still looking around Rythian’s flat curiously. Rythian shook his head as he filled up the kettle, putting it on to boil.

“No, I am sorry. Hannah, would you like a drink?”

“I’ll have some water, thank you.” Rythian filled a glass of water and passed it over to Hannah. “Thank you.” She murmured, before she took told of Lewis’s arm and pulled him over to the sofa where they both sat down. The boiling of the kettle allowed the pair to have a hushed conversation without Rythian hearing them. “I’m worried about Rythian.”

“Why?” 

“Look at him! He’s obviously been barely eating, and I’m just worried he’s not looking after himself.” Hannah’s face was creased into a concerned frown and Lewis glanced over at Rythian. Rythian’s movements were slow and he seemed tired, right down to the bones. And as he’d noticed before, Rythian did seem unhealthily thin. The kettle boiled and their quiet conversation fell silent as Rythian filled a mug with the boiling water and stirred it a couple of times before wrapping his fingers around it and turning to face Lewis and Hannah, a bright smile on his face. “How come you never replied to our texts?” Hannah asked gently as Rythian sat himself down on one of the chairs at the table. His smile faltered for a moment.

“Texts? I did not receive any texts.” His smile seemed to become more forced as he spoke. Hannah glanced worriedly towards Lewis before she turned back to Rythian.

“Are you sure?” Her voice was gentle, trying to be as non-accusatory as possible. “Lewis and I sent one each, and I think Zoey sent about three or four…” Rythian smiled slightly over at Hannah.

“I did not receive any texts.” He repeated. “You can check my mobile…” He gestured towards an cheap phone that was resting on the arm of the sofa. 

It was a £20 Nokia phone and built like a brick. Hannah picked it up and quickly navigated through it, checking the messages that had been sent. Lewis glanced over her shoulder as she looked and although there were apparently no messages from today, he caught sight of the many other texts that had been completely ignored. Hannah shrugged slightly and moved to put the phone back down. Lewis glanced up at Rythian, who was gazing into his coffee, and took the phone from Hannah. His fingers moved quickly as he passed through the phone’s menus, arriving at a folder named ‘DELETED TEXTS’. Lewis opened it and staring up at him were the texts that everyone had sent that day. He nudged Hannah softly and held the phone out to her.

“Oh, Rythian…” She murmured loud enough for only Lewis to hear before she placed the phone down and looked over at Rythian. “Rythian, are you ok?” Rythian glanced up from his coffee and smiled over at Hannah, but once again the smile didn’t seem to reach his eyes

“I am fine.”

“When was the last time you ate?” He hesitated before he replied.

“This morning.”

“And when did you last leave the apartment?” The pause was longer this time.

“Yesterday…” There was a crack in Rythian’s voice and he quickly looked down into his mug of coffee again, blinking rapidly.

“Rythian…” Hannah stood up and walked over to Rythian. She placed her hands over his hands. “How about Lewis and I take you out for lunch. And then we can go and visit Zoey and Fiona in the hospital, and you’ll get to meet Hope. I know Zoey really wants you to meet her.”

“I…” Rythian’s voice broke again and a couple of tears dripped down his face. Hannah gently took the mug from his grasp and placed it down on the table before she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Lewis looked away, slightly awkwardly.

“It’s alright. It’ll be alright. I’m sorry I haven’t been around for you, but I’m here now, and I’ll help you. I promise” She murmured quietly as Rythian broke down crying. 

Hannah smoothed his hair gently as his body shook with tears. The room fell silent apart from the quiet noises of Rythian crying, and after a few minutes, Rythian pulled away from Hannah, wiping his eyes and sniffing. 

“Are you alright for now?” Hannah asked, moving away from Rythian slightly. He nodded slightly, still sniffing, his eyes red from the tears. “Are you ready to go get some lunch?” Rythian nodded again. Hannah stood up and Lewis got to his feet too. “Come on then.” She said. 

Rythian got to his feet and wound his scarf around his neck so it wouldn’t be trailing on the floor and quietly moved towards the door, grabbing his keys from the lock. Hannah and Lewis moved over towards the door as Rythian pulled it open and stepped outside, Lewis and Hannah following. Once Rythian had locked the door, Hannah reached up and placed her hand on his shoulders, not quite tall enough to put her whole arm around, and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

“Let’s go get something to eat. Lead the way, Lewis.” Lewis moved off, with Hannah and Rythian in tow behind him.

* * *

 

Over their lunch Lewis learnt, partially from Hannah and partially from Rythian, that Rythian had been in Datlof for a little over a year, having come to Datlof from the End when he was seventeen years old. Rythian had been reluctant to speak throughout the entire meal, but he had told Lewis of a few things from his home realm, like how magic was their equivalent of technology, and how he missed his home. And once they’d finished eating, the trio headed to the hospital and Hannah, Lewis and Fiona left the room to let Zoey and Rythian catch up together for a while. So they went to grab some coffee and some tea, talking as they went.

“Rythian seemed, quiet when he came in. Is everything alright?” Fiona asked as they walked along the corridor. Hannah sighed.

“I don’t think so. I think he’s homesick, tired of being constantly ill, and struggling financially at the moment. I just hope we can help him.” Fiona nodded.

“Can’t you cure him with your magic if he’s ill?” Lewis asked, thinking back to how Hannah had healed his wound when they first met. Hannah pulled a face.

“Unfortunately it doesn’t really work like that. Healing a physical injury, like a broken bone or a cut is fairly simple. All I’m doing is speeding up the healing process. But with an illness, like a cold, or flu, I could in theory heal someone, but then they wouldn’t have built up any resistances to the illness. And so next time it came around, they’d get ill again. And for Rythian, right now, he needs to build up his immune system. You should be able to understand that, Lewis.” Lewis nodded.

“I suppose that if one of us were to go to the End, we’d get ill because our immune systems aren’t equipped for dealing with their illnesses.” Hannah nodded.

“At the moment, there’s not quite enough movement between Datlof and the End for both groups to have immune systems capable of dealing with the bugs and germs that are found in each place. And so this first year for Rythian has been particularly tough because every time he’s recovered from one illness, he’s caught another, and I think it’s beginning to take it’s toll on him, physically and mentally.”

“He sure has had it rough. Datlof’s not exactly the friendliest place to outsiders, either.” Hannah nodded in agreement with Fiona as they reached a little cafe area filled with patients and visitors alike.

“What do you guys want? I’ll go get it.” Fiona said, turning to face Lewis and Hannah.

“Tea please.” Hannah said, speaking first.

“Same here.” Lewis said after Hannah. Fiona nodded.

“Alright, I can do that. I’ll meet you over there.” She pointed to a little table by a window. 

“Alright.” Hannah and Lewis moved off towards the table that Fiona had pointed out as she moved into the queue.

“So why did Rythian come to Datlof in the first place?” Lewis asked as he and Hannah settled themselves down around the table.

“He told me he came here to learn our magic.”

“There are different types of magic?” Lewis asked, staring at Hannah. She grinned at his bemused expression.

“Yes, just like there are different fields of science; chemistry, biology, physics, to name a few. Magic can vary quite vastly from culture to culture, and for those who are keen on learning different types of magic, traveling to different realms is one of the most logical options. End magic is highly different from the kind of magic I use, for example, I’ve heard that End healing magic is much more sophisticated than the healing magic I use.” Lewis was once more fascinated by the complexity behind magic and how it worked.

“So how does it differ? And how come their healing magic is so sophisticated?” Hannah laughed. 

“I don’t know, Lewis. You’d have to ask Rythian, he’s the expert.” Lewis sighed, smiling slightly as Fiona walked over with a tray holding three mugs and a selection of little UHT milk cartons and some packets of sugar.

“Alright, tea all around. Grab whichever one you fancy, they’re all the same at the moment.” Fiona said, lowering the tray onto the table. 

Hannah and Lewis both grabbed a mug and Fiona moved the last mug onto the table before she slid the milk and sugar onto the table, enabling her to take the tray away. Hannah grabbed a carton of milk and opened it, tipping it into her tea as Fiona returned and sat herself down. She too tipped some milk into her tea along with a packet of sugar and stirred it before she took a small sip, sighed and lent back in the chair.

“What are you guys going to do after this?” Fiona asked, looking at Lewis and Hannah.

“Well, I need to head into Yoglabs, there’s a lot of stuff I need to do there, and I haven’t had a chance to say hi to Simon or Lal today.” Lewis said, taking a slurp from his tea.

“I think I’ll stick with Rythian for the rest of today. I think he needs the company.” Hannah said gazing thoughtfully down into her mug of tea. “What about you?”

“I’ll be staying late at the hospital tonight before going home, then hopefully Zoey and Hope will be discharged sometime tomorrow lunch time and I can take them home.” Fiona said smiling.

“Would I be able to visit you when you’re at home?” Hannah asked.

“Sure!” Fiona said.

“I’ll probably bring Rythian along with me too, I’m thinking of letting him stay the night at mine tonight. I hope you don’t mind, Lewis?” Hannah turned to look towards Lewis.

“No, that’s fine. He’s your friend and it’s your house.” He said, smiling slightly.

“Good.” Lewis glanced at a clock on the wall, and dread suddenly filled him.

“Oh shit!” He swore. Both Hannah and Fiona looked towards him in surprise. 

“Lewis?” Hannah asked, raising her eyebrows.

“I need to go, otherwise I won’t be able to get anything done today!” Lewis took a large gulp of his tea, the liquid burning as it went down his throat and stood up. He’d forgotten about the mountain of work that kept piling higher and higher on his desk and the thought of the chaos he might turn up to at Yoglabs made his blood run cold. “I’d love to stay with you some more, but I have so much I need to do! I’m so sorry,”

“No, it’s fine! Go! I wouldn’t want you to be worrying about work.” Fiona said, flapping her hands in a shooing motion at Lewis.

“Ah, thank you so much! If I have time, I’ll drop by with Hannah tomorrow.”

“That’d be great.”

“Ah, good.” Lewis moved around the table and gave Hannah a quick kiss on the lips. “Right, well, I’ll be off and I’ll maybe see you tomorrow.” He said, looking at Fiona. “And I’ll see you when I get back tonight.” He turned his gaze to Hannah.

“And don’t forget that Rythian will probably be there too.” Hannah called out as Lewis backed away from the table. He nodded.

“I won’t. I’ll see you later. Love you!”

“Love you too.”

“Bye, Lewis!” Fiona said as Lewis turned away from the table and headed towards the exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm, yes, brain is melting. I am so tired right now, but here is chapter!
> 
> And finally we meet Rythian! The poor bean doesn't have a very good first year while he's in Datlof. And although he's smaller than Lewis now, by the time he reaches his twenties, he'll be a whole 4 inches taller than Lewis, becoming the tallest character in Datlof!
> 
> And we have the first mention of our second realm in this chapter too; the End! Oh boi, I'm excited to talk more about the End, me and my friend we've spent a long time discussing how people could live in the End and the kinds of things they'd eat and how they'd live and all that fun stuff and I can't wait to tell you guys all about it! Keep an eye out on my blog, ask-me-about-datlof, for further information and details on the End (and on our favourite ender boi!)


	18. A Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you guys know, this chapter is pretty heavy on death and euthanasia, so maybe give it a skip if you're not sure you're going to be ok with that. There are also some mentions of a chronic/terminal illness.
> 
> Overall, this is going to be a fairly heavy chapter so consider this your warning.

It was a grey and rainy day and rivulets of water were running down the window. Lewis was sat at a table with one hand tangled in his hair as he stared at sheets of paper listing the details of possible locations to move Yoglabs to. There was a quiet knock at the door and Lewis glanced up as Danny walked in. His face was slightly pale and there were grey circles under his eyes. And Lewis wasn’t sure, but Danny seemed thinner than when he last saw him.

“Hi, Lewis. Danny said, moving around the room to grab a chair before he moved it closer to Lewis and sat down on it.

“Hi, Danny. What’s up?” Lewis asked, leaning away from the table and stretching his arms out in front of him. Danny watched Lewis stretch and then his eyes drifted towards the window and he stared out of it, a tired and thoughtful expression on his face. “Danny?” Lewis frowned towards Danny. He smiled slightly, his eyes never leaving the window.

“Lewis, can you promise me something?” 

“What?”

“Promise me you’ll take care of the pack.” 

“What do you mean?” Danny thought for a moment, continuing to stare out of the window. He took a deep breath before replying.

“Just promise me that you’ll look after the pack. Make sure the kids are alright. And make sure they’re looked after.”

“Of course I promise to look after the pack, Danny, but where’s this coming from? What’s wrong?” Danny turned and smiled at Lewis.

“Thanks, Lewis.” He said, ignoring Lewis’s questions. “And I need to get going now, I need to find out where Jacob’s got to.” 

Danny got to his feet and headed towards the door. Lewis jogged after him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he moved to open the door.

“Danny, is everything alright?” Danny smiled and gently took Lewis’s hand from his shoulder.

“Everything’s fine, Lewis.” 

Danny kept smiling as he left the room, leaving Lewis standing by the door, confused and worried about the alpha. He knew it wasn’t his place to interfere, he still barely knew Danny, but he couldn’t help but think that something was wrong. All Lewis could do was hope that Danny knew what he was doing.

* * *

 

“Hold on a second, Simon, I just need to finish calibrating…” Lewis trailed off as he frowned in concentration at the machine he was working on. Simon was spinning around on a desk chair as he impatiently waited for Lewis to finish. The lab was quiet for a moment, save for Simon’s occasional sighs. Then the sound of Lewis’s phone receiving a text  made both Lewis and Simon jump, with Simon letting out a little yell. Lewis exhaled and moved away from the machine and picked up his phone.

“Ooo, is it Hannah?” Simon asked, wiggling his eyebrows in Lewis’s direction. Lewis rolled his eyes as he unlocked his phone.

“No, Simon. It’s not Hannah.”

“Then who else would be texting you?” Simon said, giggling slightly.

“I don’t know.” Lewis replied, not noticing the jibe Simon had made. “Oh, it’s from Jacob.”

“Who?”

“One of the werewolves in the pack. He’s probably just asking if I want to… smoke some… weed… oh no.” A concerned frown crossed over Lewis’s face and he looked up from his phone towards Simon. “I’m sorry, Simon, but we have to postpone this little experiment.” Simon was instantly worried, jumping off the chair and trotting after Lewis as he grabbed his jacket from the table and started pulling it on.

“What’s happened?”

“Danny’s ill.”

“Ill? What with? Is it serious?”

“I don’t know, Simon. Jacob only told me that Danny was ill, and he didn’t know who else to tell.” 

Lewis was walking swiftly down the corridor, Simon having to run to keep up with his long strides. Yoglabs employees were moving out of the way as the pair headed towards the lifts.

“I thought something, he looked ill when he last came to see me. I didn’t ask him about it because, well I don’t really know him very well yet.” Lewis said as he and Simon reached the lifts, Lewis pressing the button repeatedly for a few moments. His last meeting with Danny had been a few weeks ago when the alpha had asked Lewis to promise to look after the pack. Lewis had seen him in passing a couple of times since then, but he’d not been able to talk with him again. “He was acting slightly strange and I asked him if he was ok, but he didn’t answer me. I didn’t want to press the matter, because if he didn’t want to talk about it with me then I can’t make him.” Simon reached up and placed his hand on Lewis’s arm.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Lewis.” Simon said, looking up at his friend. Lewis smiled worriedly down at Simon. The lift arrived and pinged as the doors opened and the pair climbed in, pressing the ground floor button. “And if he is ill, Yoglabs has the technology to cure lots of illnesses, doesn’t it?” Lewis nodded slightly.

“We have the technology and the expertise, but Yoglabs isn’t a hospital, Simon. We don’t have the equipment that an actual hospital has, and we certainly don’t have any bed spaces. And besides that, not all illnesses can be cured, especially if they’re not caught early.” Lewis took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, closing his eyes. “I just hope that whatever’s wrong with him, we can get him to a hospital.”

“But don’t hospitals refuse to treat werewolves.”

“Fuck! Fucking bullshit racism!” Lewis shouted angrily and Simon once more placed his hand on Lewis’s arm.

“Take it easy there, spaceman.” Lewis sighed.

“I’m sorry, Simon. I’m just so pissed off at how hospitals will refuse to treat someone because they’re a werewolf! It’s just so fucking stupid!” The lift arrived at the bottom and the doors opened slowly and the pair stepped out into the reception area of Yoglabs. They quickly headed towards the doors and stepped outside into the grey rain.

“Where are they going to be?” Simon asked, squinting up into the sky to look at the thick grey clouds.

“I’m assuming they’re going to be at their house. Come on, Simon.” Lewis took off, striding away and leaving Simon trailing behind.

It didn’t take the pair long to reach the house, but they were both soaked by the time they got there with water dripping from their hair and clothes. Lewis knocked on the door and after a few moments a younger werewolf opened it, only about 8 years old. Their eyes were slightly red and it was clear they’d been crying recently.

“Hello, can we come in?” Lewis asked gently, crouching down so he was level with the child. The child sniffed and turned their head back into the house.

“A couple of men are here, Rachael.” They called out, their voice wobbling slightly. “They want to come inside.” An older werewolf appeared in the corridor, one who Lewis recognised and she smiled briefly at Lewis and Simon.

“Let them in, Robin.” The child stepped back and Lewis and Simon stepped out of the rain into the house murmuring their thanks to the child as they passed.

“How is he? What happened?” Lewis asked as he walked up to Rachael, sweeping his dripping hair back from his face. She looked at Lewis worriedly.

“He just collapsed. None of us knew what happened. We don’t know what’s wrong with him.” Rachael said, speaking quietly as she moved through the house towards the stairs and led Lewis and Simon up.

“Is there anything else wrong with him? Like have you noticed anything strange the last couple of weeks?”

“Well he’s been loosing weight, but that can be normal, especially when we don’t always have enough food. Danny always makes sure the younger werewolves have something to eat, even if it means he goes hungry. And he’s seemed more tired recently too, but we just assumed that that was because he was working so hard, we didn’t realise it was because he was ill.” Lewis was frowning. “Do you think you’ll be able to help him?” Rachael asked quietly, her hand resting on the door handle into a room. Lewis sighed.

“I want to help him, I really do, I just don’t know if I’ll be able to.” He said truthfully. Rachael nodded.

“I understand. He’s in here.” She opened up the door and Lewis and Simon walked in. 

The room they found themselves in was a bedroom that obviously normally slept a number of people; there were two single beds pushed up against the walls and on the floor there was a makeshift double bed made out of a mattress and a pile of blankets and sheets. Despite the little floor space, the room was clean and the window was open slightly, causing a cool breeze to blow through the room, making the curtains move slightly. On the back wall underneath the window was a chest of drawers where a jug of water and a glass were resting along with an empty bowl and spoon. Occupying one of the beds was Danny; his skin was pale and his eyes were closed. Wether he was sleeping or otherwise, Lewis and Simon couldn’t tell. Sat crosslegged on the double bed was Jacob, worry written clear across his face. He glanced up as Lewis and Simon walked in, Rachael closing the door behind them leaving them alone in the room. Jacob clambered to his feet and walked over to the pair.

“You have to help me.” He said, desperation clear in his voice. Lewis glanced at Simon. This was the most serious he’d ever seen Jacob, further bringing to light what a serious situation this was.

“I’m not sure what I can do, Jacob.” Lewis said softly, resting his hand on Jacob’s shoulder.

“You have Yoglabs! You can help him get better!”

“Jacob, I…” Lewis looked down at Simon for a moment.

“Lewis can’t help me, Jacob, and it’s not fair to spring this on him.” Danny’s quiet voice spoke up and everyone looked over to where the alpha had opened his eyes and was gazing out at the guests in the room. Jacob bounded across the room and knelt by Danny’s bed.

“But Yoglabs is,”

“Yoglabs doesn’t have the facilities.” Lewis blinked as he listened to Danny. He hadn’t realised that the alpha had known about the lack of facilities within Yoglabs.

“He’s right, Jacob. We just don’t have the space in Yoglabs for medical equipment or beds for patients at the moment.” Lewis said, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. Simon moved to stand by Jacob and placed his hand on the young man’s back. Jacob’s face began to take on an expression of panic.

“But, but!”  Danny smiled tiredly and moved his hand out from underneath the duvet and placed it on Jacob’s arm.

“It’s alright, Jacob. You’ll be fine. I promise.”

“But I don’t want to! I can’t! I won’t!” Jacob got to his feet and ran from the room, the door slamming behind him. Lewis and Simon looked at the door for a moment, shock on their faces, before they looked back at Danny. He sighed quietly.

“What was that about?” Lewis asked, gingerly.

“The alpha of a pack needs to be a tier ten werewolf. In other words, they need to be at their strongest.” Danny explained softly. It was clear that he was exhausted. “I’ve chosen Jacob as the next alpha because I know he won’t let me down. He’s stupid and immature, but he looks after the pack which is what’s important. He knows when he needs to be serious. He knows how to teach others the important things in life. And he knows how to protect people. And now all he needs to do is become tier ten.”

“How does a werewolf become tier ten?” Simon asked, leaning himself against the wall. Danny grimaced slightly.

“To become tier ten, a werewolf needs to take the life of another.”

* * *

 

It was hours before Jacob finally returned to the house. The skies were growing dark and the rain was falling heavier. Lewis and Simon were sat in the front room of the house with the TV on, minding some of the younger members of the pack while the others busied themselves with chores and keeping an eye on Danny. Danny had explained to the pair that while most werewolves refused to kill nowadays, it was still tradition for the next alpha to kill the old alpha when they were on their deathbed. It ensured that the next alpha would be a tier ten werewolf, and in some cases it enabled the old alpha a swift death without prolonged suffering, something that was common when werewolves couldn’t easily access healthcare.

Lewis and Simon heard the door to the house open and a few moments later Jacob appeared in the doorway to the front room, rainwater dripping from his hair and his clothes completely soaked. He moved quietly through the room and sat himself down on the floor in front of the sofa. One of the younger children in the room moved from their spot and clambered onto Jacob’s knee, complaining about his wet and soggy state as they did so.

“Why’d he have to choose me?” Jacob asked quietly, staring down at the head of the child sat in his lap. Lewis and Simon exchanged a look for a moment.

“Because he believes you’re the best person to continue looking after the pack.” Lewis said softly. Jacob grimaced.

“But it’s not fair!” He exclaimed. “I don’t want to be the one who… I don’t want to…” He lowered his head and his chest rose and fell rapidly as he tried to contain his sobs. 

“Why are you crying, Jakey?” The child who was sat on Jacob’s lap asked, twisting around and looking up at Jacob. Lewis and Simon exchanged another look before they got to their feet and moved over to Jacob. 

“Come here, small one. Jacob needs a moment.” Simon said, picking up the child from Jacob’s lap and carrying them to the other side of the room where he sat down and placed the child on his own lap. Meanwhile Lewis sat himself down beside Jacob and placed his arm around his shoulders.

“Why me?” Jacob murmured through his tears, leaning into Lewis’s body. Lewis rubbed Jacob’s shoulder comfortingly.

“I can’t tell you the exact reasons why Danny chose you. But I know you’re a good person, Jacob. If anyone is ready to become alpha, it’s you. Danny told me it was you who stopped those men from kidnapping me. And I was a complete stranger back then. If you’re prepared to do that, to put yourself in harms way for a complete stranger, then you are ready to become alpha.” Jacob sniffed and drew in a shuddering breath.

“But I’m not ready to become tier ten! I don’t want to be tier ten!” He cried out. “I don’t want to be tier ten…” He repeated, mumbling softly as he cried.

“I know.” Lewis said quietly, squeezing Jacob’s shoulder gently. 

Jacob turned his head and began crying into Lewis’s shoulder. He was crying quietly enough that most of the others in the room didn’t notice and remained fixated on the TV. But a couple of the older children noticed and they moved from their seats and sat themselves next to Jacob, doing nothing but offering their presence as comfort. And slowly, Jacob stopped crying and he pulled away from Lewis slightly, wiping his eyes. He took another minute or so to compose himself. Then he ruffled the heads of the two children who had sat themselves beside him and stood up.

“I’m going to talk to Danny.” He told Lewis quietly before leaving the room.

Lewis moved across the room and sat himself down beside Simon and the pair sat together quietly, wondering what it must be like knowing you had to kill someone you were close too. Wondering what it must be like knowing you had to kill your best friend.

Eventually Jacob returned to the front room and stood in the doorway. He looked tired. He looked like he’d accepted what he needed to do. And he looked empty.

“Danny wants to see you.” Jacob said to the children in the room and they instantly clambered to their feet and ran past Jacob and up the stairs. 

Jacob looked towards Lewis and Simon before he gave them the slightest twitch of a smile before he moved through the front room and into the kitchen. A few moments later the rest of the pack members who had been downstairs walked through the front room and headed upstairs, Jacob following them. Lewis and Simon could figure out what was happening quite easily. Danny was saying goodbye. The pair got to their feet, not wanting to stay and impose. It wasn’t their place to stay. This was a family moment and they weren’t family. They moved out into the hallway where Jacob was just beginning to climb the stairs.

“Jacob,” Jacob turned to look towards the pair, “Simon and I are going to be heading off. You’ll be fine. Danny believes in you, and so do we.” A ghost of a smile passed over Jacob’s face for a moment.

“Thanks.” He murmured quietly before he turned and continued walking up the stairs. 

Lewis placed his hand on Simon’s shoulder and the pair turned and left the house, stepping out into the darkness of the night with the rain falling down, almost like the sky was crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you interested, Danny had cancer; being a werewolf he never went and got it diagnosed and so even if Lewis had been able to help, there would probably have been very little he could do to help him and Danny would have ended up dying either way. And I've not tagged this as a major character death, because Danny isn't (and wasn't ever mean to be) a major character. Danny was always going to die, the only thing that changed was the issue that I accidentally forgot that I wrote him as a man in his mid-thirties/forties when in the past we had planned for him to die of old age. But this works as well, even if it is more painful to write.


	19. We're Through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blood is mentioned in this chapter, but other than that I think it's relatively safe...

Lewis rubbed his hand over his face. He had a pounding headache. There was a mountain of paperwork piled up on his desk including a couple of possible designs for the new building Yoglabs was going to be based in. Lewis had suddenly remembered that the old castle now belonged to him, and the empty plot of land beside it was also available, so he’d quickly bought the land and hired a couple of architects to design a new building to attach onto the castle; something that would be big enough to cope with the growth of Yoglabs in the future and also serve as a place to treat those who couldn’t get help from any of the hospitals in Datlof, people like the werewolves and people who were inflicted with magical illnesses. And of course it had to look the part too. 

While the pressure of having to find a new building for Yoglabs had been lifted, Lewis was now having to deal with more issues now that he was mayor, and the top of his list right now was reforming the healthcare in Datlof. The reform of the healthcare wasn’t his idea; the previous mayor had started it but  hadn’t time to finish it before he’d decided to retire. And Lewis had decided it would be easier to finish what the previous mayor had started rather than start over anew. However, some of the citizens in Datlof weren’t particularly happy with what the healthcare system was changing to. This reform didn’t affect those who already had health insurance, it instead affected those who didn’t have heath insurance for whatever reason, be it lack of money or a previous long term illness that health insurance refused to cover. And the reform of the healthcare system was making it harder for those people without health insurance to get help when they needed it most. Lewis personally disagreed with this new reformed system, but since the wheels had already been set in motion it was easier to roll with them than try to force them to stop. And he figured that later down the line, when he had less on his plate, he would be able to change the healthcare system again, making it better for those who needed it most. At least that was his plan anyway. 

Sat on the top of a pile of paperwork involving this change for the healthcare system was a couple of sheets stapled together with lists and lists of signatures on it. Lewis sighed and after a moment of staring blankly at the paper, he picked it up and started scanning his eyes over the short bit of writing at the top.

“Stop the healthcare reform! Sign your name on this petition!” Lewis murmured as he read it. 

He then lifted the first sheet up and had a look at the page underneath. It was only two pages long. Sighing once more he screwed up the petition and threw it over to the bin where it bounced on the rim before falling in. It was clear that there was barely a hundred signatures in total for that petition. And as much as he agreed with those people signing the petition, he didn’t want to cause any more stress for himself by suddenly changing everything about. Those who were struggling, would have to cope until he could get around to changing the healthcare system again. Lewis rubbed his hand over his face again and turned his attention to the rest of the paperwork for the change. He sat staring at the pile of paper for a few moments, his mind drifting. Eventually he shook himself out of his stupor and stood up. Maybe he just needed a cup of tea to help him focus. 

As Lewis walked out of his office and lab into the corridor, he ran into Hannah who was about to walk into the room he’d just come from. They both recoiled back to avoid hitting each other, Hannah nearly loosing her grip on the handful of books she was carrying. Athena was sat on her shoulder and she flapped her wings slightly to steady herself.

“Ah! I’m sorry, Hannah!” Lewis said, reaching a hand out to steady Hannah after he’d recovered himself. She took a moment longer to compose herself, making sure the books in her grasp weren’t about to go tumbling to the floor before she replied.

“It’s alright. I’m glad I ran into you. I’m just picking up some of my books that I’d left; Rythian and I are going to be practicing some magic together today.” Hannah said as Lewis took his hand away from her once he was sure she was steadied. 

After discovering how isolated and lonely Rythian had been, Hannah had insisted that Rythian spend time with her, learning magic; she teaching him the magic she knew and he teaching her his kind of magic. She had also quickly learnt that he had been unemployed for a prolonged period and money was tight, to the point where he barely had enough to pay rent and buy food at the same time. So she’d persuaded Lewis to buy Rythian the flat opposite from Zoey and Fiona. Lewis had willingly done so; he barely knew Rythian but he knew that Rythian was a good friend of Hannah’s and he was perfectly willing to help out someone who needed the help, even if it meant buying a flat and paying the bills. But then again, money wasn’t an issue, Simon still spent a lot of time mining and he had amassed a large collection of gold; something he was very willing to share with Lalnable and Lewis when they needed it. And aside from that, Yoglabs was doing well and profits were up, shortage of money, thankfully, wasn’t one of Lewis’s problems.

“I also wanted to tell you that I’ve asked Rythian if he wants to spend the night at mine tonight, so don’t be surprised if you get back home and he’s in the house.” Lewis nodded.

“Alright. I’ll keep that in mind.” He stifled a yawn and Hannah looked at him.

“Tired?”

“A little.” He admitted. “It’s mostly stress, I’ve got that press conference this afternoon on the healthcare reform.” Hannah hummed and eyed Lewis carefully.

“I trust that you’ll do the right thing, Lewis.” 

Lewis looked down at Hannah and instantly felt guilty. He knew that her name would be on that petition he threw away. She had been very vocal about her views of the healthcare reform, writing multiple articles on the subject, and Lewis knew she’d be livid if she found out what he was doing. She was going to be livid later anyway, Lewis just hoped that he’d be able to explain his side to the story before she could tear him to pieces. 

“Well, I’ll see you later, and maybe take a nap so you’re not falling asleep in this press conference.” Hannah smiled and stretched up to give Lewis a quick kiss on the lips.

“I’ll try.” Lewis replied, smiling back. Hannah backed off and headed down the corridor towards the lifts, Athena ruffling he feathers as she went. Lewis watched Hannah for another few moments before he headed off towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea.

* * *

 

The press conference was about to start and Lewis was being fussed about with technicians attaching a microphone to his clothes and making sure it was working. The room that the press conference was being held in was a rather large room filled with a couple of rows of chairs at the front for a few select individuals with the rest of the reporters, journalists and TV cameras in the back of the room. A small stage had been set up at the front of the room with a pedestal on it and multiple other microphones attached, each one belonging to a different TV company. Standing proudly on either side of the stage, resplendent in brand new uniforms was Jacob, or Alph as he now liked to go by, and one of the other members of the pack. The uniforms they were wearing were cobalt blue, the same colour of the Yoglabs logo and had gold trimming. Lewis had had them made specifically for the werewolves, a uniform that they could wear while they were on duty as security guards, something that looked the part but was also practical and allowed the wearer to move around freely and easily. And he had to admit, they looked rather striking. Having Alph and the other werewolf there was simply a formality. Now that he was mayor, it was almost mandatory for him to be followed around everywhere by a bodyguard. And when Lewis had found that out, he had decided to use the pack as his personal security detail. After all, they were already working as security for Yoglabs, it wouldn’t be a problem to timetable in a couple of shifts for one or two of them when Lewis had press conferences or meetings. And it vastly helped improve the image of werewolves too. It was common knowledge now that Lewis employed a pack of werewolves, and as a result, the pack had seen a large growth in numbers as smaller packs with only a couple of werewolves in them joined themselves up with the larger pack and now Lewis found he had plenty of people for security, but with his plans to build a completely new building for Yoglabs to be located in, he would need more people to act as security, so the growth of the pack was not a problem.

“Alright, we’ll be going live with this press conference in a minute!” Someone called out and the technician who’d been busying about Lewis ushered him up onto the stage and over to the pedestal before disappearing. 

Lewis looked over the room and smiled when he caught sight of Simon sat in the front centre of the room, beaming up at Lewis with a big smile. Lewis had invited both Simon and Lalnable to come along to the press conference, partially so he had a friendly face to look out on in the crowd and partially for moral support when the press conference was over and the unavoidable guilt began sweeping over him. However, Lalnable had turned him down, saying he was too busy with his experiments. But Simon had been happy to come along and support his friend, and Lewis was grateful that he was there. Simon waved at Lewis and he smiled back at the dwarf before checking behind him to make sure that Alph and the other werewolf were ready. He received a nod from the other pack member and when he turned to look towards Alph, he received two thumbs up and a large grin.

“We’re ready to begin whenever you’re ready, Mr. Mayor.” A voice called out and Lewis turned to face the sea of reporters again, composing himself and looking down at his notes resting on the pedestal. This was simple, all he had to do was read what was on his notes and then it would be over. Lewis took a deep breath and looked up.

“As most of you are aware, my predecessor set in motion plans to reform the healthcare system of Datlof.” Cameras began clicking and journalists were scribbling notes down or holding up voice recorders as large TV cameras focussed in on Lewis’s face. His heart was pounding as he thought about what he was going to say next, and his mind flitted to Hannah and the petition. “And there have been rumours flying around the city about whether I am going to continue these plans, or scrap them. And today I’m here to tell you that I will be continuing the previous mayor’s plans of reforming the healthcare system.”

Murmurs ran around the room and people shuffled in their seats as they registered what Lewis had just said. He felt horribly guilty for saying it, but he couldn’t change his mind now. What was done was done. Lewis continued reading from his notes, undisturbed for a few more minutes; any questions that the journalists wanted to ask were to be asked at the end. But then suddenly the door to the room burst open and launching into the room with a flurry of feathers as she changed back to her normal human form was Hannah. Heads and cameras turned to look at her as she strode angrily across the room, tears falling from her cheeks as Athena swooped overhead. 

“You idiot, Lewis! You complete and utter idiot! _What have you done_?!” Hannah shouted angrily as she crossed the room. Behind him, Alph and the other werewolf glanced at each other. They weren’t sure what to do, after all Hannah was in a relationship with Lewis.

“Hannah, I,” 

Lewis took a cautious step back. He’d known Hannah was going to be angry, but not that angry. Frowning angrily, Hannah leapt up into the air and covered the rest of the distance between Lewis and her in a matter of moments, her arm pulling back for a punch as she reached him. Her punch hit him square in the face and Lewis went tumbling to the floor as pain exploded around his face.

“You idiot! Do you realise what you’ve done? How this is going to affect so many people?!” Hannah was standing over Lewis and he looked up at her, feeling warm blood trickling from his nose.

“Hannah, please let me explain!” Lewis begged, although he knew that she was beyond the point of caring right now.

“I though you were better than this, Lewis, I really thought you were!”

“Hannah,”

“Do you want to know who this affects? Rythian. This stupid reform affects Rythian. You know he can barely afford to eat right now, never mind health insurance. And now you’ve made it harder for him to get help. Congratulations.” Guilt washed over Lewis and he looked down.

“I’m sorry, Hannah, I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late for an apology, Lewis.” She took a step back from him, shaking her head with tears flowing down her cheeks. “You know what, we’re through.” Hannah turned and soared over the heads of everyone in the room.

“Hannah, wait!” Lewis called out, but she had disappeared through the door with Athena following close behind and he knew she wasn’t coming back. 

Lewis sat himself up, his head hanging low and feeling the blood trickling from his nose down his chin and dripping down onto the stage. He took a deep shuddering breath as tears started dripping from his eyes. His face was throbbing where Hannah had hit him, but he wasn’t angry. Instead he felt that he deserved it. He’d done a terrible thing today. Around him, Lewis could hear the chaos in the room, and he thought that he should do something about it, try to calm everyone down and assure them that everything was alright, but he couldn’t bare the thought of dealing with journalists now. A hand rested on his shoulder and a moment later a friendly and familiar voice spoke.

“She hit you pretty hard there, spaceman.” Lewis couldn’t help but laugh, choking slightly on his tears as he did so. Simon’s hand patted his back. “Careful you don’t die there, Lewis. That’d be embarrassing if you died while choking on your own tears.”

“God I must look a state.” Lewis mumbled, wiping at the tears and blood on his face. “And everyone’s going to see me like this…” His heart sank as he thought of the TV cameras in the room, all filming away.

“Don’t you worry, they stopped filming as soon as Hannah punched you in the face. They’re still turned off. And your two werewolf buddies are keeping the journalists away for now.”

“Thank god…” Lewis drew another deep shuddering breath and looked up at Simon, earning a grin from the dwarf.

“You’re going to have a wicked black eye, Lewis.” Simon commented as he looked down at Lewis before he held out his hand. “But let’s get you cleaned up and try to stop your nose from bleeding everywhere.” 

Lewis took a hold of Simon’s hand and was pulled to his feet. He unclipped the microphone on his clothes and handed it to a technician as he and Simon moved off the stage, Alph and the other werewolf keeping the journalists away from the pair as they went. All around him were the shouts of journalists trying to get his attention, but Lewis ignored them and soon he, Simon, Alph and the other werewolf were out of the room and in the quiet of the corridor.

“You two go clean this muppet up and I’ll deal with the rabble in there.” Simon said, gently pushing Lewis in the direction of the werewolves.

“But, friend,”

“I’ll be fine, Lewis. I’ll tell them you’re not dead.” Lewis smiled gratefully towards Simon, sniffing slightly and tears still falling from his eyes.

“Thank you, friend. I really appreciate this.”

“No worries. Now go get cleaned up.” Simon replied, shooing Lewis away before he turned and headed back inside the room full of reporters. The loud shouting from a few moments ago had died down, and chatter filled the air instead. Heads turned as the door opened and some of the chatter died down as Simon made his way through the crowds to the stage where he grabbed hold of a technician and asked for a microphone.

“If you would please move back to your original positions, Simon, uh, Honeydew is going to make an announcement on the mayor’s behalf.” A voice called out over the chatter in the room as the technician wired Simon up with the microphone.

“Can this be televised?” Another voice called out as journalists began to move back to where they’d been before.

“Yes, this can be televised.” The chatter died down as Simon stepped up onto the stage, standing a little way away from the pedestal.

“Whenever you’re ready Mr. Honeydew.” Simon looked out on the sea of faces and cameras and suddenly realised how terrifying it must be for Lewis to do this.

“I’d like to announce that the mayor is not dead.” A chuckle ran around the room as Simon spoke. “I’m aware that the cameras were suddenly cut so most of you at home will be wondering what happened, and I’m just here to tell you that Lewis has broken up with Hannah, or more accurately Hannah broke up with Lewis. She was pretty angry at him, but she didn’t kill him, and although he’s off crying now, he’ll be alright. So don’t you worry, he’s not dead. And I’ll get him sorted out soon enough.” 

Simon finished his little announcement and hopped off the stage. He caught sight of the cameramen turning the cameras off and he went over to the technician to get the microphone taken off him. And once he was free from the microphone he headed out of the room and towards the bathroom where he assumed Alph and the other werewolf would be cleaning up Lewis. He needed to make sure his friend wasn’t a sobbing wreck right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp Hannah and Lewis are no longer a thing, sorry to you guys who wanted it to continue on, but their relationship was never a big thing in this world.
> 
> Also, this thing is getting pretty long now, it's only about 10,000 words shorter than the first Harry Potter book and we've got a long way to go yet... :D


	20. Accidental Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings of things appearing in this chapter: blood and death, just so you know

A few weeks had passed since Hannah had so publicly broken up with Lewis, and while the first few days had been very rough on him, Simon had insisted on dragging Lewis into work and making him socialise with people, getting Lalnable to work with Lewis on some projects together and slowly Lewis began to get back into the normal swing of things. Both Simon and Lalnable could tell that Lewis missed Hannah still, but they let him be as long as he wasn’t shutting himself away. Lewis had taken to going on walks around the city at night by himself, to clear his head and think. And Simon also suspected that Lewis was hoping to see Hannah swooping in the sky with Athena beside her.

There was a chill in the air as Lewis wandered, a sure sign that winter was on its way to Datlof. For once the skies were clear and only a few of the brightest stars sparkled down, fighting the light pollution of the city. Lewis gazed up at the sky as he wandered aimlessly. He had no idea where he was or where he was going, he was letting his feet guide him through the city. He’d drifted down the side streets of Datlof where, away from the busy main roads, the air was quieter and more peaceful and there were less people walking down the streets. Lewis knew that although Hannah kept Datlof safer at nights, there was still a chance of him getting mugged or attacked again and so on these night time walks he kept his sword with him just in case.

Lewis glanced behind him as he heard a siren and saw a brief glimpse of blue flashing lights and then they vanished and he kept walking, turning his gaze back up to the stars above him. He walked in silence for a few more minutes until suddenly a large shape swooped over his head and Lewis turned to follow the shape, quickly recognising the form of Athena flying almost silently through the air. Lewis glanced around to see if he could spot Hannah, but the skies were clear. Athena wheeled around in the sky and headed back towards Lewis, descending as she glided closer. Lewis had seen Athena land on Hannah’s arm before and he could recognise now when Athena wanted to do the same to him. Tentatively, he held out his arm as Athena flapped her wings to slow her descent, reaching out with her taloned feet as she gripped onto Lewis’s arm. He gasped out, wincing slightly as her sharp claws dug into his skin as she grasped tightly to stop herself from falling. Athena brought her large wings in close to her body and stared at Lewis with her large unblinking yellow eyes. Lewis gazed back, unsure at what Athena was doing here.

“Athena? What is it?” 

She continued staring right at Lewis and then suddenly a vivid image flashed in his mind. Hannah was kneeling by someone and both were covered in blood; the red liquid was everywhere, coating her arms and the body of the other person and pooling on the ground. Lewis blinked as the image vanished as quickly as it appeared, Athena still staring at him intently. 

“Is Hannah alright? Where is she?” 

Athena suddenly took off, flying up into the air and circled around once before flying off down the street. Lewis began running after Athena as she flew above him, navigating the streets of Datlof until they arrived at a construction site. Athena flew over the fence and swooped down low over Hannah’s head as Lewis found a gate that hadn’t been locked properly and ran through it towards Hannah.

“Hannah! Are you ok? Oh god…” Lewis trailed off as he reached Hannah and fully took in the scene before him. The image that Athena had showed him had only been a few moments long, and Lewis hadn’t been able to see everything that was happening. Hannah was kneeling down in a pool of blood, staring at her hands which were also covered in quickly drying blood. In front of her was the body of a man, a pole sticking through his abdomen, his eyes glazed over and his body too still for him to still be alive. Lewis swallowed and looked away from the body, horrified at the sight of so much blood and gently placed his hand on Hannah’s shoulder. He could feel her body trembling and she hadn’t reacted to his presence, still staring at the body in front of her. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” Lewis said, gently pulling Hannah to her feet, wrapping his arm around her waist to support her. 

“There was so much, so much blood, I didn’t know what to do…” Hannah mumbled as Lewis lead her away from the body and started heading out of the construction site, Athena gliding silently through the air above them.

“It’s ok, it’s ok, don’t worry about it.” Lewis said softly.

“He wouldn’t stop bleeding. I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding.” The trembling in Hannah’s body was growing, and she was beginning to hyperventilate as her breaths came short and shallow.

“I’m going to get you home and cleaned up, ok? Just take deep breaths, it’s going to be ok.” Lewis said, looking around for somewhere to sit her down.

“There was just so much blood…”

Hannah slowed to a stop, her whole body shaking as her breathing became shallower and more rapid. Lewis moved so he was in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. Her gaze was unfocussed and she was glancing around almost nervously as she hyperventilated.

“Hannah, look at me, come on, look me in the eyes, that’s it, take deep breaths now, in and out, in and out.” Lewis spoke gently as Hannah slowly focussed her gaze onto him and listened to his voice, her breathing beginning to slow. “You’re doing great, in and out, just keep focussed on me and keep breathing deeply. You’ll be fine, I promise.” 

Tears began welling up in Hannah’s eyes and she started crying. Lewis wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright. You’re fine. You’re safe. It’s alright.” Lewis said gently as he hugged Hannah’s shaking and sobbing form close. His eyes glanced up as Athena flew overhead, a silent watchful shadow.

“I couldn’t stop the bleeding.” Hannah sobbed. Lewis moved a hand up and started stroking her hair.

“I know, I know. It’s ok.” They stayed where they were for a few minutes as Hannah continued crying, Lewis holding her close and stroking her hair while Athena circled overhead keeping a watchful eye on the pair. Eventually Hannah’s sobs started to stop as she started to calm down slightly. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

Hannah didn’t resist as Lewis placed his arm around her shoulder and gently started leading through the the dark streets, Athena flying above until they reached her house. He stopped outside the door and looked in the place where Hannah kept the spare key, breathing a sigh of relief as he found it and unlocked the door. He switched on the hall light before ushering Hannah inside, Athena swooping in low behind them. Athena settled herself on a chair in the kitchen as Lewis sat Hannah down on a chair before going back to close the door and lock it. As Lewis returned to the kitchen, he could see Hannah was still trembling slightly and her eyes were red from tears. The blood on her clothes was turning from red to black as it dried and on her hands it had crusted and turned a black brown colour.

“We need to get you cleaned up. I’m just going to get you some clean clothes.” Lewis said quietly before leaving the kitchen, trusting Athena to let him know if Hannah needed him while he was gone.

Lewis went upstairs and into Hannah’s bedroom, rummaging around in her drawers until he found a loose t-shirt and a pair of jogging bottoms. He left the bedroom and went to the bathroom, placing the clothes on the side before he started filling the bath with warm soapy water. Going back downstairs he found Hannah gently stroking Athena’s feathers, her hand shaking slightly.

“Come on, I’ve got a bath running upstairs for you.” Lewis said, helping Hannah to her feet before leading her upstairs and into the bathroom. Athena followed them, swooping over their heads and flying into the bedroom where she disappeared. Inside the bathroom, Lewis turned off the taps before he turned back to Hannah. “Get in, don’t bother with your clothes, we’ll deal with them in a moment. Just get yourself in the water.”

Hannah managed to kick off her shoes before she climbed in, sitting herself in the warm soap filled water. Lewis knelt by the side of the bath, taking hold of her hand and gently rubbing the blood off, grabbing hold of a sponge and using it to clean the blood from where it was stuck down the sides of her nails. Once that hand was clean, he took her other hand and started cleaning the blood off that one too. The water in the bath began turning a coppery brown colour as all the blood stained the water. Once all the blood had gone, Lewis pulled the plug and he helped Hannah out of the water, holding her steady as she stumbled slightly. He grabbed a towel and wrapped her in it. 

“Get yourself dry and put on these clothes once you’re dry, alright? I’ll just be in the hallway if you need me.” Lewis said before he left the room, sitting down and leaning his back against the wall. 

Hannah was clearly in shock with what happened, and although Lewis wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, he could hazard a guess that Hannah had been fighting with the man in the construction site when either she pushed him back or he tripped and fell onto the pole. And then… Lewis shuddered as he thought about the scene he’d seen, all the blood and the lifeless eyes of the man, and how Hannah had just been sitting there, staring horrified at the sight in front of her, staring at the blood on her hands. Just then the door to the bathroom opened and Hannah stepped out. Her hair was slightly damp at the ends but she was clean and dry and free of the blood stained clothes she had been wearing, instead wearing the clothes Lewis had placed on the side. He got to his feet and walked over to her.

“How are you feeling?” He asked gently, reaching out a hand and placing it on her shoulder.

“Where’s Athena?” She murmured in reply. Almost like she’d been called, Athena flew out of the bedroom and landed on Hannah’s other shoulder. Hannah reached up and began gently stroking Athena’s feathers, the tremble in her hands almost completely gone.

“Let’s get you into bed.” Lewis said, gently guiding Hannah towards the bedroom as Athena affectionally nibbled at Hannah’s hair as Hannah continued stroking her soft feathers. 

Once inside the bedroom, Hannah climbed into her bed, Athena hopping from Hannah’s shoulder to the headboard of the bed. Lewis switched on the lamp beside the bed as Hannah snuggled down into the sheets, gazing at Lewis. He sat himself on the edge of the bed and smoothed Hannah’s hair back from her face.

“Try to get to sleep. I’m going to clean up your clothes and the bathroom.” 

Hannah nodded and curled herself up, closing her eyes as Athena started preening herself. Lewis stood up from the bed and left the bedroom quietly, leaving the door open a crack so he could make sure Hannah was still alright as he tidied up. He collected up the dirty clothes from the floor of the bathroom along with the towels and took them downstairs to the washing machine. He put them all in and turned it on before heading back upstairs. Hannah was fast asleep, and Athena was watching over her, so Lewis turned off the lamp and left the room, this time closing the door softly behind him. He went downstairs and found a pad of paper and a pen and started writing out a little note. He left the paper by the kettle and left the kitchen, turning off the lights as he went. Lewis stepped out of the house and locked the door behind him, still using the spare key. He returned the key to its place and walked into the street, heading back home, frowning slightly as he went, hoping that Hannah would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully this chapter was fairly quick to write because I'd written this scene before and it only needed a little tweaking for it to work. But in the weeks leading up to Christmas, I might not be posting very regularly because I have a lot of very busy weeks with some deadlines coming up for Uni and a lot of very busy weekends too. So a couple of chapters might be a little late, but I'll try my hardest to get them out on time still.
> 
> MANDATORY REST STOP! If you are reading this as a completed work, this is a mandatory rest stop! Close the tab, get some food/rest/something to drink. It will still be here when you get back :)


	21. Reminiscing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's blood and needles in this chapter, just an FYI

Lewis had only seen Hannah a couple of times after that night, and they’d barely glanced at each other. But the first meeting after that night Hannah had quietly murmured her thanks to Lewis as she passed by him and he knew that she would be alright. Lewis hadn’t told anyone about what happened with Hannah in the construction site and as a result Simon had continued to keep his friend’s mind off the break-up, although as the days had turned into weeks, Lewis had found that he was kept busy with the amount of work that was involved with the renovation of the castle and the building of the new base of operations for Yoglabs. The renovations on the castle had nearly been completed, with a few labs available for working in that Lalnable quickly took over, using the space to really get going with his project on cloning. Lewis had also transformed half of the castle into living quarters for the werewolf pack, who had moved into the space and turned it into a warm friendly space. Lewis had also made an arrangement with a company who owned a block of flats not too far away from the castle; any werewolf who was a part of the pack, and therefore an employee of Yoglabs, could get a severely reduced rent apartment, along with a slightly reduced rate of pay, but the deal worked out in their favour as they could find very affordable accommodation that was nice to live in and wouldn’t turn them away because they were werewolves. Lewis was paying the extra rent for the apartments partially out of the money taken away from the werewolves pay, and partially out of the profits of Yoglabs. He himself had moved out of the small apartment he had been living in and he was now living in the castle, in a couple of rooms that he had set aside for himself. And beside the castle, beginning to grow upwards among a tower of scaffolding and cranes, the foundations and base of Yoglabs were appearing. 

“Come on, Lewis, I’m hungry.” Simon complained as he swung his legs from the chair he was sat on. He and Lewis were in Lewis’s new lab and Simon was waiting for Lewis to finish up so the pair could go get some lunch together. This was partially to drag Lewis away from his work so he actually ate at a sensible time, but it was also so that Simon didn’t have to go get lunch on his own which he would have found very boring.

Lewis’s new lab was located in one or the rooms in the castle; the walls were stone and the floors were wooden planks because planning permissions had allowed Lewis to change very little about the inside of the castle, requiring him to use the same sort of flooring and walling, even if he changed the layout of the rooms. He’d even been required to keep the old dungeons in the basement of the castle. But despite the stone walls and wooden floors, the lab was well lit with L.E.D. lights tucked away into the ceiling which could be turned on or off by the switch at the wall, or otherwise they would be turned on by a motion sensor and stay on for a few minutes if no more motion was detected. Along one wall was a large whiteboard and to the left of the door was a desk with a laptop sitting on it, and a desk chair that Simon was sitting on. The rest of the room was filled with worktables and shelving units, all filled with the scientific equipment that Lewis had carted over from his old lab. Simon was amazed at the fact that although Lewis had only occupied this space for less than a week, it was already cluttered with paper and empty mugs and half finished experiments.

“Alright, alright, I’m nearly done…” Lewis murmured, frowning in concentration as he wrote something down on a spare scrap of paper as he skim read through what looked like a report or an article. Simon waited patiently for another thirty seconds before he jumped off the chair, sending it rolling back across the floor, and walked over to Lewis, and grabbed the paper from his hands. “Simon!”

“The only way you’re getting this back is if you stop and have some lunch.” Simon said in a commanding tone as he flapped the paper about in the air. Lewis smiled slightly before he put the pen he’d been holding down and stretched his arms above his head.

“Sounds fair to me, friend.” Lewis got to his feet and grabbed his jacket from where it was lying on one of the tables. Simon plonked the paper he was holding down on the desk beside the laptop as Lewis pulled on his jacket. “Should we pop in on Lal and see how he’s doing? I reckon if I deserve a break, he deserves one too.” Simon nodded.

“I don’t understand how you two can get so absorbed in your experiments that you forget to eat.” Simon said, almost incredulously as the pair left Lewis’s lab and made the short trip across the corridor to Lalnable’s labs.

“Well,” Lewis grinned, “I’m not sure I can explain it to you if you haven’t experienced something like that before.” He knocked the door to Lalnable’s labs lightly before he opened it up and strolled in, Simon following close behind. “Lal? You in here?”

Lalnable’s labs were actually two rooms that had a small arch knocked through one wall so that you could pass from one room to the other with ease. The first room, that Lewis and Simon were now standing in, had a row of half built tanks along the back wall, each one hooked up to a computer with multiple wires running across the floor, hopelessly tangled in some places. The second room was filled with computers and a large whiteboard filled with biological equations and half formed thoughts. Tacked up on the wall were a couple of anatomical diagrams of the human body and in one corner there was a skeleton grinning out over the room. Whether the skeleton was real or fake, neither Lewis nor Simon had dared to ask. Lalnable himself was sitting in front of a set of monitors, holding his head in his hands. There was a collection of screwed up paper surrounding the chair that Lalnable was sat on a chair and his lab sleeve was rolled up and a cuff was on the upper half of his arm, with a needle and tube coming out from the crook of his elbow. Blood was flowing through the tube into a bag that had been placed on a little trolley.

“Lal?” Lewis asked as he and Simon walked into the second room and caught sight of him. “Are you alright, friend?” Lalnable lifted his head and turned to look at the pair.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied tiredly.

“What’s all this for? Are you donating blood or something?” Lalnable smirked slightly at Simon’s innocent question.

“I guess you could call it blood donation. I’m collecting blood so that I have samples with which I can start trying to clone myself.”

“Are you that close? You’re going to actually try to clone yourself already?” Lewis asked excitedly, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

“Nearly… I just need to finish building a cloning vat.” Lalnable nodded towards the other room. Lewis and Simon glanced back at the half built tubes and computers. “This is just me taking a short break from that.” Lalnable chuckled slightly. Simon glanced up at Lewis with a slightly concerned expression as Lewis rolled his eyes.

“If you’re going to take a break, Lal, you might as well take a proper break. Come with us to get some lunch.”

“I probably should get something to eat after this…” Lalnable mused quietly, his eyes drifting to the bag of blood beside him.

“Yes you should.” Lewis walked up to Lalnable and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you want me to help get the needle out?” Lalnable shook his head.

“No, I can do that by myself. Simon, do you want to grab those cotton buds beside you and pass them over here?” 

Simon did as he was asked and passed a small bag of cotton buds over to Lalnable, who took off the tape that was holding the needle in place before he placed a cotton bud over where the needle had pierced his skin and pulled the needle out, pressing the cotton bud down tightly.

“Do you want to hold this for a second, Lewis?” Lalnable asked, holding out the needle towards Lewis. 

He took it as Lalnable busied himself with taking the cuff off his arm and taping the cotton bud in place. Once he’d done that, he took the needle back from Lewis and tidied away the bag of blood and chucked the needle in a small bright yellow bin with warnings printed on the side. Lalnable carefully tucked the blood away in a refrigerator before he straightened up and began rolling down the sleeve of his lab coat.

“Are you ready to go?” Lewis asked, looking towards Lalnable. He nodded and the trio left Lalnable’s labs, walking through the corridors of the castle and quickly making their way to the outside.

Datlof was now in the icy grip of winter; people scurried by wrapped up in hats, coats and scarves and the occasional nights where the weather was cold enough to freeze things over, the next morning the streets of the city were chaos as cars struggled to get where they needed to go. There was no proper snow, but sleet was a frequent visitor to the city, showering down from grey skies and creating an atmosphere of gloom. But strung up between buildings and wrapped around bare trees, christmas lights twinkled, fighting the darkness and the gloom of the cold short winter days. The trio admired the lights as they made their way towards a cafe that seemed slightly emptier on the inside than some of the others. They quickly moved inside the cafe, escaping the cold of the winter air and being embraced in the warmth of the cafe. They ordered food and drinks and found a small table by the window where they could look out onto the main street of Datlof. From where they were sitting, they could see the castle, for the first time since they had know it, fully restored and glowing from the lights inside. And every so often, a werewolf or two would leave or go in through the front door, making the castle look loved and lived in once more. 

“So how are you getting on with this cloning project, Lal? Are you anywhere close?” Lewis asked after their food and drinks had arrived and he’d taken a sip of his tea.

“Well, I think I’ve got the theory down, I just need to put it into practice. And that’s where everything will go wrong.” Lewis chuckled slightly.

“I’m sure it will go alright, I know you have the skills to make this happen, Lal.” Lalnable smirked slightly.

“Thanks, Lewis.”

“And if you want any more blood, I’ll be happy to donate some for you to use. I can’t say anything for Simon though.”

“As much as I’d love to have a million of me running around, I don’t fancy having a needle jammed into me thanks.” Both Lewis and Lalnable laughed.

“Don’t worry, Simon. I’ve got plenty of blood for now, and besides, I think I want to keep things simple and stick to human DNA.” Lalnable paused before he looked towards Lewis. “And I’ll let you know if I want any of your blood. But I should be fine for now.”

“Good, good. Just don’t go bleeding yourself dry for this, Lal. And remember to take breaks.”

“Look who’s talking!” Simon exclaimed, looking pointedly at Lewis. 

“I take breaks, Simon!” Lewis said, trying to defend himself.

“Only when I force you to take a break.” 

“I take other breaks too! When you’re not there!” 

“Sure you do, spaceman. Sure you do.” Lalnable grinned as he watched the exchange between Lewis and Simon.

“It’s like old times, watching you two argue over something while we’re eating. We’ve not done this for a while.” Simon and Lewis glanced up at Lalnable.

“You’re right. We’ve all been so busy since coming to Datlof, we’ve barely had any time to hang out with each other.” Lewis said, leaning back into the chair he was sat in with his mug of tea. Simon glanced out of the window.

“I remember two winters ago, probably around this time, we were celebrating the completion of the spaceship.” Simon said softly, gazing out of the window. Both Lewis and Lalnable followed his gaze and caught sight of the sleet that had started to fall while they’d been in the cafe.

“It had snowed lots already then. There were a good few inches of snow on the ground.” Lalnable commented as he watched the sleet.

“Mmm…” Lewis hummed quietly. “A lot has happened since then, hasn’t it?” Simon and Lalnable nodded slowly. Lewis smiled as the three of them continued watching the sleet falling. “I think I preferred watching the snow, rather than watching this sleet.” Lalnable grinned at Lewis’s comment.

“You can’t make good snowballs when it sleets like this.” Simon complained, grinning widely.

“That you can’t. It would be nice if we got some snow, it might make the city look a little prettier than just cold and wet.” Lewis said, accompanied by chuckled from the other two.

“Snow would be an absolute pain though.” Lalnable said.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Lewis finished the rest of his tea and looked down at the table that now held empty plates and cups. “Well, I guess we should be getting going. Lal probably wants to get back to his cloning experiments and I need to finish what I was doing too.” Lalnable let out a big sigh as he stood himself up, while Simon just looked completely crestfallen.

“Yeah, I need to get back.” Lalnable said as Lewis and Simon got to their feet too. “It was nice having lunch together though.” 

“We can all have dinner together tonight too!” Simon exclaimed excitedly.

“Sorry, Simon, but I think I’ll be working late tonight.” Lalnable replied, instantly wiping the excitement off Simon’s face. Lewis, noticing his friends sad expression, placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder.

“Don’t you worry, Simon, I can have dinner with you tonight. And I’m sure we’ll be able to drag Lal away from his experiments at least a couple of nights this week.” Simon perked up slightly at the promise of having dinner with Lewis.

“Alright, Lal, I’ll let you off tonight, but I’m not going to let you get away with this every night.” Simon said, frowning and pretending to be angry with Lalnable. Both Lalnable and Lewis laughed.

“Ok, time to get moving, I think. This work won’t wait. And the sooner I can start back up, the sooner we’ll be able to leave for dinner later on.” Lewis said, grinning down at Simon who beamed up at him. “Come on, let’s go.” 

The trio filtered out of the cafe and into the sleet outside, where they didn’t dally for long and quickly made their way back across the road and into the warmth of the castle, where Lalnable instantly disappeared off back to his labs. Simon and Lewis took a little more time before they returned to Lewis’s lab and Lewis set about working once more as Simon settled down in the desk chair for a quick nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is slightly shorter, but the good news is that I'm nearly completely done with Uni for the December/January holiday and so I won't have any deadlines keeping me from writing any more story!
> 
> Also, I'm cooking up a little Christmas special, so keep your eyes peeled for that ;)


	22. The First Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: There is death and blood in this chapter

The metal skeleton that would form the supports of Yoglabs was already in place and the marble walls were build built up at the bottom of the building. Work was moving slower than expected due to some heavy snow in the suburbs of Datlof and lots of sleet in the actual city delaying vehicles carrying tools, equipment and supplies. And a good number of the construction workers had been unable to make it in to work on some days. And so the bare skeleton of steel beams was looking rather bleak in the grey skies. Some of the landscaping work that was going to be at the front of yoglabs had already started, and the bottom few tiles of what would eventually be a pond at the front of the building had been set down, and sleet and melted ice had pooled in the bottom creating an inch of icy water that reflected the grey of the skies above it.

Today the cloud cover was hanging so low over the city that the top section of Yoglabs was completely hidden, the tall dark framework of the steel beams vanishing eerily into the sombre skies. No snow, sleet or rain had been forecast for the day, but the dark swirling clouds threatened otherwise. Simon had just popped out of the door to the castle and he was making his way over to the entrance to the construction site of Yoglabs, where Lewis was busy talking to a small group of construction workers and the architects hired for the design of the building. Simon had been looking for Lalnable but once again he had been unable to find him. Lalnable had been vanishing a lot over the past few weeks; neither Lewis nor Simon had been able to find him in his labs or elsewhere. And they’d both been getting increasingly worried about him.

Simon passed through the gates into the construction site and approached Lewis. It was clear that Lewis was still busy with the people who he was talking with so Simon hung back at a respectful distance until Lewis had finished and the group dispersed. Lewis sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he turned to face Simon.

“Hey there, spaceman.” Lewis smiled tiredly.

“Hi, friend.” A quick glance around Simon revealed to Lewis that Simon was alone. “No luck in finding Lal then?”

“Nope. He’s like a damn ghost.” Lewis grimaced.

“Speaking of ghosts… I think the rumours about the castle being haunted might be true.”

“Have you been getting spooked, Lewis?” Simon said grinning at Lewis. Lewis frowned over at his friend.

“Not exactly, but there is defiantly someone or something that looks and sounds an awful lot like a drunk old man.” Simon snickered.

“So you in 50 years?”

“Simon!” Lewis exclaimed smiling, only slightly annoyed at his friends’ jibe.

“I mean, you shouldn’t complain too much about having a drunk ghost living with you, it means you’ll finally have a drinking partner on those late nights when I’ve already gone home!” Lewis was about to reply when something caught Simon’s eye. “Is that… a person?!”

Simon pointed towards where a dark shape was plummeting rapidly through the clouds. A ghostly scream filled the air as the figure fell, arms reaching up desperately to grab at thin air as they hurtled towards the ground. By now, other people on the construction site had caught sight of the person and all anyone could do was stare in horror as they fell.

It took only a matter of seconds for the body to hit the ground. It landed on the edge of the pond, the head smacking into the ground, with a dull thump, accompanied by the cracking of bones, similar to the sound of someone cracking their knuckles. The body bounced off the edge of the pond and fell down to the bottom where it hit the tiles with a loud splash. For a moment the entire construction site was still.

Then people started moving again.

Lewis instantly ran over towards the pond with Simon following in tow. Other surrounding people began running over too. Everyone was thinking the same thing. There was no way anyone would be able to survive a fall from that height. But maybe, just maybe… 

Lewis was the first to reach the pond and he looked down in horror at the sight he saw below him. The body was face down in the water of the pond, a red stain beginning to spread out around the head almost like a halo. Part of the skull had been caved in, leaving a dent in the back of the head and the arms and legs were twisted around at unnatural angles. A couple of other people had arrived at the edges of the pond and were looking down at the body like Lewis was. Simon caught up with Lewis and he too peered down at the broken body.

“Oh god…” Simon murmured softly as he stared down at the body. Other people around the edge of the pond were also muttering quietly to themselves as they gazed horror-struck at the body. Lewis suddenly looked away from the body and glanced at the rapidly growing group of people.

“You, call an ambulance.” Lewis’s voice rang out across the quiet of the construction site and people instantly looked up. The person that Lewis had pointed to pulled a phone out of their pocket and began dialling, taking a couple of steps away from the group. “Michael, I want everyone down from the building. If this happened because of lack of safety, then we can’t risk anyone being up there.” 

Michael, one of the team leaders on the construction site began shouting across the group, issuing orders to the people who were standing around and people began moving into action. Walkie-talkies were pulled out and a couple of people ran into Yoglabs, coming out with more people than who originally went in. Lewis turned to Simon.

“Simon, I want to know… I want to know who it was but I don’t feel comfortable touching the body. Would you…” Simon reached up and placed his hand on Lewis’s arm.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” 

The pair climbed down into the pond and moved closer to the body. The red stain in the water was growing larger and both Simon and Lewis looked at the spreading stain with a feeling of nausea building within them. When they reached the body, Simon gently flipped it over so that the grey eyes, still open, were staring up at the sky almost as if in horror. Lewis grimaced and looked away from the face of the body, where ruby red water was trickling down from the dark hair and equally bright red blood was oozing slowly from the nose. The victim of the fall had been a man, and the name tag on his high visibility jacket read David Brown. Simon reached across the body and closed the eyes of the man, instantly transforming his expression from one of fear to almost peaceful slumber. 

It had only been about a minute, but already sirens could be heard and it wasn’t long until the ambulances arrived and the man’s body was moved onto a stretcher, covered with a cloth and driven away. Everyone had been evacuated from Yoglabs and people were standing in small huddles together, talking and speculating about what exactly had caused him to fall. Lewis and Simon were having a quiet conversation with Michael about the man, David, and what might have happened.

“-he was a good man. A good worker. I’d worked with him before on other projects and he was a really great person…” Michael said quietly, glancing over towards where the body had first hit the ground and shaking his head slightly. He seemed almost like he couldn’t quite grasp what had happened.

“Of course I’m going to launch a thorough investigation into the safety of the building site, but might there be any other reason why he might’ve fell?” Lewis hated asking this question, but he needed to rule out any and all other possibilities. Michael’s eyes opened wide.

“What? Suicide?!” He stared at Lewis in horror for a moment before he closed his eyes and shook his head. “No. This, he wouldn’t do this. His wife just gave birth to their first child. He was ecstatic. He was so happy to have a baby girl… he wouldn’t… not now.”

“I’m sorry, I just want to rule out any other possibility.” Lewis said, suddenly feeling something hollow out inside him as he realised that David had had a wife and child. He swallowed. “You don’t happen to know where his wife lives, do you?” Simon glanced up at Lewis, instantly clicking at why Lewis was asking.

“What? Yeah, yeah I’ll get that for you.” Michael moved off towards the small mobile compartment that was being used as an on site office.

“Are you sure you’ll be up for this, Lewis?” Simon asked, looking up at his friend. 

“Yeah, yeah I should be fine. And she should be told sooner rather than later…” Lewis trailed off, his eyes drifting over towards the pond. Simon followed his gaze.

“I’ll come with you.”

“Simon, no, you don’t have to,”

“Yes I do. Now quit your arguing. I’m coming with you.” Lewis opened his mouth, closed it, and the pair fell silent. Moments later Michael returned from the makeshift office holding a beige file.

“Here, this is his file. It’s got all his details in, like medical history and the like. Including his address and the name of his wife. We keep a file like this on everyone in case of… in case of accidents.” Lewis took the file from Michael and gave him a small half smile.

“Thank you. I’ll be back soon.” 

Michael nodded and Lewis and Simon moved off, Lewis holding the file tightly in his hands. The pair didn’t make it far when Lalnable suddenly appeared, looking around at everyone worriedly.

“What, what happened?” He asked, his voice small. Lewis and Simon glanced at each other for a brief moment.

“There was an accident. A man fell from the top of Yoglabs, and…” Lewis couldn’t finish the sentence but he didn’t have too. Lalnable turned pale.

“He, did he, he didn’t survive. Did he?” Lewis and Simon shook their heads.

“Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god.” Lalnable suddenly crashed to the floor, his trembling hands holding his head as he stared at the ground. 

“Lal, are you alright?” Lewis asked, concern in his voice as he and Simon crouched down beside Lalnable. Lalnable was trembling violently and Simon placed a steadying hand on his back.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright, Lal. You’ll be alright.” Simon said, comfortingly as he rubbed his hand up and down Lalnable’s back. Lewis glanced down at the file in his hands.

“Simon, can you keep an eye on Lal while I speak to his wife?” Lewis asked quietly.

“I was going to come with you.” Lewis smiled a hollow smile.

“Lal needs you more right now, friend.” Simon paused for a moment before he nodded.

“You come right back here, afterwards, you hear me?” It was Lewis’s turn to nod.

“Alright. I will.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“I’m going to give you the biggest damn hug when you get back.” Lewis smiled emptily again, the thought of having to break the news to the David’s wife chilling him to the bone.

“I’ll be waiting for it, friend.” Lewis stood himself up and smoothed out his jacket. “I’ll be back soon, and make sure Lal’s alright, friend.”

“I will. And make sure you’re alright yourself, spaceman.” Lewis nodded before he moved off, leaving Simon alone to look after Lal.

* * *

 

The distance from the construction site of Yoglabs to the David’s home wasn’t far, but for Lewis it felt like an age. He kept replaying over and over in his head the image of the him hitting the floor with a thud, and then he kept replaying what he might say to the David’s wife. And the closer Lewis got to the home, the more he wished he had Simon with him. 

David had lived in a block of flats with his wife, and newborn child, near the centre of Datlof. The block of flats where they lived was a run-of-the-mill building where multiple families lived with flats ranging from single apartments to two or three bedroomed flats. Lewis rang the intercom and after giving David’s wife a brief introduction of who he was and why he was there, he was buzzed in. David and his wife had owned one of the smaller two bedroom apartments on the third floor of the building. The inside was lovely and furnished and pictures of David and his wife smiled out from the walls, making Lewis feel sick as he looked around the apartment.

“I’m so sorry for the mess, things have been rather hectic since our little girl was born.” David’s wife, a woman who had introduced herself as Amanda, was quickly tidying away a couple of things, the newborn baby fast asleep in a cot by the window. “Would you like anything, tea, coffee?”

“No thank you.” Lewis said quietly. He felt too ill to think about eating or drinking anything.

“Then, please, take a seat!” Amanda said, gesturing towards a couple of lounge chairs. Lewis almost reluctantly sat himself down on one of the chairs as Amanda took a seat on the sofa. “So what can I do for you, Mr. Brindley, I mean Mr. Mayor.”

“Please, just call me Lewis.” Amanda nodded.

“Alright. What can I do for you, Lewis? You mentioned you had some news about my husband?” Dread washed over Lewis and he glanced down to the file he was holding before he looked up at Amanda.

“Mrs. Brown, Amanda, I regret to inform you that your husband is dead.” 

The silence in the room was deafening.

“What?” Amanda’s response was quiet. Lewis swallowed.

“There was an accident on the building site of Yoglabs, and I’m afraid your husband, he fell.”

“How did this happen?” Her voice was still quiet, but there was a trace of anger in it now.

“We’re not sure yet, but let me assure you that I will do everything in my power to find out what happened to cause your husband to fall.”

“Right. Yes. Of course.” She drew in a shuddering breath.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I think, I think I’d like you to leave now.” Amanda spoke very quietly, but very clearly. Lewis stood up, quickly followed by Amanda and he moved towards the door. She opened up the door and Lewis was about to step out when he thought of something else.

“If you’d like to see your husband’s body, it’s been taken to Grange Road Hospital. I’ll call them and tell them you might show up.” Lewis turned to walk out when Amanda opened her mouth and spoke very softly.

“Thank you.” 

He hesitated for only a moment longer before he stepped outside the flat and Amanda closed the door behind him. Despite having given Amanda the news of her husband’s death, Lewis felt empty and hollow and he didn’t realise he’d been walking back to the castle until he was already there. Simon had either seen Lewis approaching the castle, or had just known that his friend was about to walk in, because as soon as Lewis opened the door to the castle he was tackled by the dwarf who gave him a large bone-crushing hug. Lewis said and did nothing except hug Simon back, grateful that he had Simon to look out for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what the end of this chapter reads like because my brain is actually mush.
> 
> But GOOD NEWS! I am now on my christmas holiday, and next Sunday, I probably won't upload another chapter (because it's Christmas eve) but I will upload an extra special Christmas thing, so keep on the look out for that.


	23. Murders and A Murderer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a minor character death, also lots of blood and pain and violence.

David was the first death to happen on the Yoglabs building site, but he wasn’t the last. Only now it was becoming clear that these deaths weren’t accidents but murders. Five people had now died within the grounds of the castle and the construction site of Yoglabs. Two scientists who had moved in to work in a couple of the labs located in the castle, and three construction workers, including David. And people were growing increasingly nervous. The news stations had been covering the murders and police were frequently seen patrolling around Yoglabs and the castle. Lewis was trying his best to quell fear and rumours, but even he was scared by the number of people turning up dead. And no one knew who was doing it.

Despite the dead bodies turning up with alarming frequency, people were attempting to go about life as normal. The few who were working within the castle were continuing with their work, busying themselves with their experiments and praying that they wouldn’t be the next dead body lying in the castle halls. And construction on the Yoglabs building was continuing with the workers using a buddy system so no one was left alone at the top of the building. 

Just before the second body had turned up, Lalnable had announced to Lewis and Simon that he had successfully managed to clone himself and then introduced the pair to Lalnable 2. This version of Lalnable didn’t hang around long before he vanished, leaving a note saying that he was going to try to hatch some dinosaur eggs he’d created and no one had heard from him since. Lalnable had shut himself away after Lalnable 2 left, and that’s about the time the second body appeared. Lewis had thought that maybe it was Lalnable 2, but he couldn’t ever imagine Lalnable, or a clone of Lalnable, ever murdering anyone. 

The atmosphere within the castle was tense and strained as people wondered when the next body would turn up, and who it might be. Lewis was walking through the eerily quiet corridors of the castle by himself, trying his best not to think about the murders, and failing. He was painfully aware of how quiet it was, and how alone he was. His hand drifted to where his sword normally was, but he clutched at empty air and he suddenly remembered that he’d left his sword in his lab with Simon. Swallowing down the rising fear, Lewis picked up his pace. He rounded a corner and came to a sudden stop.

Lying on the floor in a rapidly spreading pool of blood was one of the scientists who was working in the castle at the moment. Ruby red blood had soaked through their white lab coat and if it wasn’t for the shuddering breaths that they were taking, Lewis would have thought that they were dead. Lewis shook himself and dashed over to the scientist, his eyes raking over their body and taking in the severity of their wounds. The scientist, a young woman, had been stabbed in multiple places, the gouges deep and blood was rapidly oozing from them. Her right leg was bent at an unnatural angle and it was clear that it had been broken, either in a fight or to stop her from running it wasn’t clear.

“Help! I’ve found someone who needs help!” Lewis called out as he knelt down by the scientist. Her eyes flickered open for a brief moment, but there was no sign that she registered that Lewis was right in front of her. “Don’t worry, help is coming, you’ll be alright.” He said gently as her eyes flickered shut. 

Lewis reached out with the intentions to try and stop the bleeding a little, but when his hands came into contact with her body, the bloody scene in front on him melted away and he found himself walking down the corridor once more. But this time, he wasn’t in control. It was like he was a passenger in the scientist’s body. Lalnable suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor, grey bags hanging under his eyes that were darting around wildly as he glanced around the corridor, like a wild animal looking for threats. Lewis could feel the heart-rate of the scientist increase slightly, and against his will, a tinge of fear began trickling around his body.

“Lalnable.” The scientist said, nodding slightly in his direction, and trying to swallow. 

A twitchy smile crossed Lalnable’s lips for a moment. The scientist and Lalnable drew closer in the corridor. They drew level. And it seemed that they were going to pass. Then suddenly Lalnable swung around, grabbed hold of the scientist’s arm and twisted it behind her back while his other hand went over her mouth. Lewis cried out pain flashed through the scientist’s arm. With one swift movement, Lalnable kicked her legs and they gave out and a moment later he stamped down on her right leg and with a snap and a flash of pain she crumpled even more as Lewis screamed. That’s when Lalnable pulled out the knife and began stabbing. Twice into the chest, three times into the stomach, then he dropped the scientist onto the floor and stabbed her again, pulling the knife slowly across her abdomen as his hand muffled her screams. There was no hand over Lewis’s mouth to muffle his screams though, as the white hot pain burned across his torso. Lalnable suddenly looked up and pulled away from the scientist, staring down the corridor.

“Lewis! Lewis!” Simon’s voice shattered through the image and Simon’s strong hands pulled Lewis away from the body. “Lewis, are you alright?” 

Gasping and trembling violently, Lewis stared over at the scientist. She was clearly dead now, her body was completely motionless and there was no rise and fall from her chest. There was group of people standing around, some other scientists who worked in Yoglabs, and a couple of construction workers. Someone was talking on a phone standing slightly to the side. Simon moved so he was crouching in front of Lewis, forcing him to look away from the scientist and the blood that surrounded her.

“Lewis, are you alright?” There was genuine fear in Simon’s eyes as he stared at Lewis. Lewis tried to compose himself, but pain was still burning through his body, like he was the one who had been stabbed, and he couldn’t make the shaking disappear. “Lewis, please, tell me you’re alright!” Simon begged, placing his hands on Lewis’s shoulders.

“I, I’m fine…” Lewis managed to say, his voice shaking. Simon moved forwards and pulled Lewis into a tight hug and he cried out as pain flared around his body. Simon pulled back suddenly, fear and concern etched onto his face.

“Lewis?!” 

Gingerly, Lewis raised up a hand and pressed it to his chest. Pain burned and he quickly took his hand away and glanced down. Blood covered his hand and his heart stopped for a moment, until he remembered he’d tried to stop the bleeding on the scientist. 

“Simon, I’m not, am I, bleeding?” Lewis said, glancing up at his friend. He didn’t know what to think. His body burned with the pain of being stabbed, yet he knew he hadn’t been stabbed. Or at least he didn’t think he’d been stabbed. Simon quickly looked over Lewis.

“No you’re not bleeding. Are you alright though, are you hurt?” Lewis could hear sirens approaching the castle, and suddenly he didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the body of the scientist any more.

“No, no, I’m not hurt. I don’t think.” Simon looked like he was bout to say something else, but Lewis cut him off. “Can you help me get to my office, friend?” Simon hesitated before replying.

“Alright, spaceman.” Simon reached out and helped Lewis get to his feet.

As soon as Lewis placed pressure onto his right leg he screamed and his leg buckled. Simon stopped him from crashing to the floor, and a couple of the other people gathered around helped support Lewis as he regained his balance, holding all his weight on his left leg. Those who had stepped forwards to help, moved back once Lewis was once more balanced. Although they remained close by, just in case.

“Lewis, are you sure you’re alright?” Simon sounded almost scared as he tightened his grip around Lewis’s waist. Lewis shook his head mutely.

“I don’t know, friend.” He whispered. The sirens had grown loud enough that Lewis knew they’d be there in a moment. “I just want to get to my office.”

“I don’t know if you should be walking, spaceman.”

“Please.” 

“Only if you think you can make it, spaceman.”

Lewis gave Simon a curt nod and slowly placed his right leg down, slowly putting his weight onto it. Pain blazed up his leg and he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as they began to water, but he didn’t cry out or fall. He knew though that he’d only be able to take his weight on his right leg for a few brief moments before it would give out. So gathering his courage, and bracing himself for the pain that he knew was coming, Lewis took a tiny step forward. The pain was searing and it took all of his willpower to not cry out. His leg buckled at the end of the step, but Simon beside him stopped him from falling. The sirens had fallen silent and Lewis knew it would only be a matter of time before paramedics and police would be there. And he wanted a few moments to compose himself before he had to speak to them.

“Lewis, are you sure you can make it?” Lewis opened his eyes and looked down at Simon, who had an uncharacteristically concerned expression on his face.

“I’m sure.”

Gritting his teeth in preparation, Lewis took another tiny step forwards, Simon supporting him. Barely giving himself time to recover, or let the pain die down, Lewis took another step and kept going, thankful that his office was close by. Painful step by painful step, Lewis and Simon made it into Lewis’s office where Simon gently lowered Lewis into the blue couch that sat opposite his desk. Lewis was still shaking, but this time it was from the pain that was coursing through his entire system. As soon as he was sat down on the sofa, he closed his eyes and took a few moments to just breath.

“Lewis, I’m going to get one of the paramedics. I’ll be right back.” Simon said. Lewis opened his eyes and caught sight of Simon just as he vanished from the room.

He was sure he hadn’t been hurt, but the pain he was in was telling him otherwise. And he remembered Lalnable breaking his leg and stabbing him over and over. Lewis shuddered at the memory. Somehow he knew that the memory wasn’t his, that the memory belonged to the scientist, but he also knew that there was no logical explanation for it. And there was no logical explanation for the intense pain he was feeling if he hadn’t been injured. Lewis shuddered as he remembered the wild look in Lalnable’s eyes as he repeatedly stabbed the scientist. Somehow, the knowledge that Lalnable was the one behind the murders hurt more than the pain that was burning all over his body. Lewis closed his eyes and tried to forget what he’d seen.

“Lewis?” Lewis opened his eyes once more and looked over to the door where Simon was standing with a paramedic.

“Hi, friend.” Lewis said, weakly. He tried to smile, but he couldn’t make his mouth move in the right way, not with the memory of Lalnable stabbing the scientist dancing in his mind.

“Mr. Brindley, I’m just going to check you over and make sure you’re alright.” The paramedic said, moving past Simon and coming to crouch in front of Lewis. “Can you tell me where the pain is greatest?”

“I’m sure I’m fine.” Lewis said as Simon wandered over and sat down beside Lewis, a concerned frown furrowing his brow. The paramedic sighed.

“Multiple people heard you screaming, and just as many people said they saw you in extreme pain, Mr. Brindley. I need to make sure you’re alright. And right now I’m deciding whether you need to go to hospital or not.”

“I don’t need to go to hospital.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Now, where is the pain the greatest?” Lewis vaguely gestured to his body.

“Around my chest and stomach, and in my right leg.” He replied, giving in. He didn’t want to go to hospital, but it might provide an insight to why he was in so much pain. Perhaps something had happened, and he had been hurt but he just couldn’t remember. Maybe he’d been hallucinating, and that’s why he thought he’d been in the body of the scientist when she’d been stabbed.

“Alright, I’ll start with your chest.” The paramedic rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a pair of scissors.

“Do you want me to take my shirt off?” Lewis asked.

“I want you to stay still. If you are injured, which I suspect you are, you should move around as little as possible.” The paramedic took the scissors and cut Lewis’s shirt open. He stared at Lewis’s chest for a moment in surprise. Simon too was staring at Lewis’s chest in absolute surprise.

“What?” Lewis asked.

“Well, there’s no outwardly visible sign that you’re injured but that doesn’t rule out the possibility that the injury is below the skin.” The paramedic said. He gently began moving his hands over Lewis’s chest. “Let me know when it hurts the most.” 

Lewis didn’t need to let the paramedic know, because as soon as his hands applied even the lightest pressure to where the scientist had been stabbed, white hot pain flared around Lewis’s body and he cried out. The same happened for where the stab wounds had been on the scientists’s stomach.The paramedic then moved onto Lewis’s leg, and once more looking at it showed no visible signs of injury, but as he ran his hands down his leg, he cried out again as the pain flared up. The paramedic stood up and looked down at Lewis.

“Mr. Brindley, I think it would be best if we took you to the hospital. It’s clear that you’re in great pain, and we need to figure out what’s causing the pain. Wait here while I go get a stretcher and my colleagues.”

The paramedic left the room and Lewis sighed as his eyes closed. He was still shaking, although less so than earlier.

“Lewis, what happened?” Simon asked quietly. Lewis opened his eyes and looked over at his friend.

“I don’t know, Simon. I was walking down the corridor, and I caught sight of… I saw her lying there and so I ran over to help her, and then I don’t know.” The concerned frown was still on Simon’s face. Lewis was beginning to wonder if everything had been a hallucination. Or if he was going crazy. “I don’t know, Simon!”

“Hey, it’s alright. You’re just shaken up, you’ll be fine. You need some time to process what happened.” Simon said comfortingly, reaching up with his arm and gently placing it around Lewis’s shoulders, careful not to knock Lewis or cause him any more pain.

The paramedic suddenly returned with another paramedic and a stretcher. The pair gently got Lewis onto the stretcher, being as gentle as they could, but still Lewis cried out as the movements caused the pain to flare up. The spoke gently and comfortingly as they strapped him in and wheeled him out, Simon walking beside the stretcher. Word of what had happened had spread quickly and by the time they got outside, they were faced with a rather large group of people, including a couple of TV cameras and journalists. For a moment Lewis thought he saw Hannah through the crowd, but as he craned his neck to look, one of the paramedics chastised him and told him to keep still. He was wheeled up into the ambulance where one of the paramedics jumped into the front of the ambulance and, with the sirens blaring, set off moving. The other paramedic placed a cannula into the back of Lewis’s hand and hooked it up to a drip as Simon sat beside Lewis. When the paramedic was done, he and Simon sat and talked, including Lewis in the conversation as much as they could, but Lewis didn’t feel much like talking. As the ambulance drove further through the city, Lewis closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He was exhausted, emotionally, from what had happened, and the pain killers that the paramedic had given him were helping to relax him. And by the time the ambulance reached the hospital, he’d fallen fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having empathic abilities aren't always a bonus...
> 
> On another note, Happy New Year everyone, and I hope you all had a great Christmas (if you celebrate it) and you have an excellent 2018!


	24. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small mentions of hospitals and needles in this chapter, and blood is talked about quite a lot, just FYI

“I’m not sure what to say, Mr. Brindley…” The doctor said as she looked up from the clipboard in her hands and looked over towards Lewis.

Lewis was lying in a hospital bed in a private room. He had a cannula winding out of his hand and the bag that was attached to it had a painkiller feeding through into his bloodstream. Lewis had only been in the hospital for one night as they’d conducted more thorough tests and taken him for X-rays and MRI scans. And finally the doctor was giving them the feedback from the tests. Simon was sat in a chair beside Lewis’s bed, his feet dangling as he watched the doctor. Lewis looked pale, and stress lines had become more visible on his face in the last 24 hours.

“What is it?” Lewis asked quietly. Simon’s eyes flicked over to his friend for a moment.

“Well… there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you as far as we can tell.” The doctor said, resting the clipboard at the end of the bed and looking over at Lewis.

“Oh…” Lewis’s voice could barely be heard.

“What?” Simon asked, frowning over at the doctor. He couldn’t believe that there was nothing wrong with Lewis. He’d seen his friend screaming in pain, there was no way that could just be nothing! “There’s no way that nothing could be wrong with him!” The doctor just shrugged as she looked over towards Simon.

“I’m not sure what to say. Perhaps it was just stress that set off the pain.” She turned back to Lewis. “We’ll be discharging you from the hospital today, and if you’re still in pain I suggest taking pain killers, and if the pain’s still there after a couple of weeks, come back and we’ll run some more tests. But aside from that, I’d suggest that maybe you take a break, offload some of your workload and cut down on things that are causing you stress, because at the moment that’s all I can really think of that’s causing this.” Lewis nodded ever so slightly and the doctor turned to look towards Simon once more. “Keep an eye on him and make sure he’s trying to reduce his stress. I understand that this is a difficult period for you, Mr. Brindley, but no one would blame you if you took it easy for a few weeks.” Lewis nodded once more as did Simon, although Simon’s nod was a lot more enthusiastic than Lewis’s.

“I’ll make sure he takes a break.” Simon promised.

“Alright. If you don’t mind, Mr. Honeydew, there’s something I need to discuss with Mr. Brindley alone.” Simon blinked and then nodded, jumping off the chair 

“Sure thing.” He headed towards the door, smiling at Lewis before he left. Once Simon was gone, and Lewis and the doctor were alone, the doctor took Simon’s place in the chair and looked over at Lewis. 

“While we didn’t find anything wrong with you in any of your tests, we did discover something unusual with your blood.”

“My blood?” The doctor nodded and looked down at the clipboard, lifting up some of the sheets as she looked for Lewis’s blood results.

“Yes. Strangely, when we investigated it further, we couldn’t find any matches across the hospital. We’ve sent samples off to other hospitals in the city to see if they have any matches, but,”

“What exactly was wrong with it?” Lewis asked quietly, cutting off the doctor mid sentence.

“Well, we’re not sure. As we’ve never seen anything like this before, we’re not sure what to think. But as you seem completely healthy in every other respect, my colleges and I have decided that it’s probably nothing to worry about. It may just be that you have an incredibly rare blood type that we’ve never seen before. These things do happen occasionally in science and medicine, as I’m sure you’re well aware. We don’t always know everything about the human body, and we’re learning more every day. So while this may seem alarming to you, as long as there are no adverse affects to your health I think it’s safe to say that this is perfectly normal for you.”

“Right.”

“If it is worrying you though, you’re perfectly welcome to come back and we can conduct further research into it. And of course if any of the other hospitals can find a match in their databases, we’ll let you know.”

“Right.” The doctor looked up at Lewis.

“Of course there is always a possibility that the pain you’re feeling now is somehow connected to your blood, but I wouldn’t worry about it unless the pain persists for longer than a couple of weeks, or grows in any way at all. My advice to you for now would be to take it easy for a few weeks, keep an eye on your body and if anything changes, let us know.” The doctor stood up and walked back to the foot of the bed. “Do you have any questions for me, Mr. Brindley?” Lewis shook his head ever so slightly.

“No.”

“Alright. I’m just going to sort out the paperwork for your discharge, and then I’ll be back.” 

With that, the doctor left the room and a moment later, Simon returned and he and Lewis were left alone. Simon wanted to ask Lewis what the doctor had spoken to him about, but he knew it was rude to pry and he also knew that if Lewis wanted to tell him, he would eventually. All he had to do was wait. Simon walked around the bed and was about to sit back down in the chair when Lewis spoke up.

“Is this, is this all in my head, friend?” Lewis asked. Simon had to listen carefully to pick up what Lewis was saying, his voice was so quiet.

“No. What you were feeling, what you are feeling, there’s no way that’s just in your head.” Simon had no medical experience beyond patching up cuts and occasionally putting a splint on a broken bone, but he couldn’t believe that there was nothing wrong with Lewis at all. Stress didn’t make someone scream in pain.

“Right…” Simon looked worriedly over at his friend. Lewis definitely hadn’t been himself since Simon had found him in the corridor with the dead scientist. He wondered if Lewis had seen something, or if something had indeed happened to him. But Lewis had barely said anything and Simon could tell that whatever had happened, it was scaring his friend. And Simon didn’t know what to do.

It didn’t take too long for the doctor to get all the paperwork for Lewis’s discharge completed, and once the cannula was taken out of his hand, he and Simon were free to go. Lewis insisted on walking back to the castle, despite the doctor telling him to take it easy and Simon protesting against it. The weather outside was grey and overcast, but it wasn’t raining yet. Lewis began limping slightly when they were about halfway back to the castle, and despite Simon asking him if he wanted to stop, Lewis pressed on.

When they eventually got back, Lewis was even paler than he was before and his limp had grown more pronounced. Simon was eyeing his friend worriedly, but he knew that if he asked if he was alright, Lewis would deny that he was in any pain at all. So he refrained from asking. The castle was quiet when they went inside and Lewis headed off in the direction of his office, with Simon following close behind.

“Lewis!” Both Lewis and Simon turned around as Lalnable called out Lewis’s name from behind them. He’d obviously just come out of his lab and he was jogging down the corridor towards the pair.

“Hi, Lal.” Simon said as Lalnable drew closer. Lalnable looked almost as bad as Lewis did. His skin was pale and dark bags hung under his eyes from nights of sleeplessness. His eyes didn’t stay focussed in one place for too long, instead darting around the corridor and every so often coming to rest on Lewis and Simon. There was a slight red stain on the sleeve of his lab coat that Simon assumed was blood from all the times Lalnable had taken his own blood for his cloning experiments.

“Hi, Simon. Lewis, are you ok?” Lalnable asked, his eyes going to look at Lewis before darting away quickly. Simon glanced over at Lewis when he didn’t immediately reply. Lewis was as white as a sheet, like he’d just seen a ghost. His hands were trembling ever so slightly and there was an expression of fear plastered onto his face.

“Lewis? Are you alright?” Simon asked, concerned for how his friend was acting. Simon’s voice seemed to snap Lewis out of whatever state he was in and he glanced down at Simon. 

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You’ve gone really pale.”

“I’m fine.” Lewis crossed his arms, almost like he was trying to hug himself.

“Did anything happen to you? I heard you were in hospital.” Lalnable asked as his eyes flicked back up to Lewis for a brief moment.

“No, I’m fine…” Lewis took a small half step away from Lalnable.

“It’s all good, according to the doctor. He’s just stressed.” Simon said, filling in for Lewis.

“That makes two of us.” A twitchy smile crossed Lalnable’s lips for a few brief moments, but Lewis didn’t smile back.

“I… I need to go somewhere…” Lewis said, taking another small step away from Lalnable.

“Where are we off to?” Simon asked.

“No, sorry friend, alone.” Simon blinked.

“Alright. You don’t mind if I hang out with your for a while, Lal, do you?”

“No!” Both Simon and Lalnable looked up at Lewis in shock. He was shaking his head and holding his hands over his face. “No, sorry, no, you can, of course you can, he’s fine, it’s fine.” Lewis’s quiet ramblings were muffled further by his hands and Simon’s forehead creased with worry.

“Is everything alright, Lewis?” Lewis took a deep shuddering breath and lowered his hands. A weak unconvincing smile crossed his lips.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. I promise. I’ll be in my lab if you need me…” He glanced up at Lalnable, his smile faltering, and then began backing away before he turned and headed off down the corridor, as fast as his limp would allow him. Simon watched him worriedly for a few moments before he turned back to Lalnable.

“I don’t suppose you know what’s going on with Lewis do you?” Simon asked. Lalnable paused before replying, never once making eye contact with Simon.

“No.” Simon sighed.

“I just hope he’s alright.”

* * *

Simon had eventually convinced Lalnable to get some lunch with him and the pair had spent a couple of hours at a small cafe. Lalnable had seemed on edge for some reason and he barely sat still the entire time they were there, constantly looking around, his eyes jumping from one person to another. Conversation had been sparse, mostly because Lalnable was so distracted, he could barely remember what Simon had just said to him, if he heard him at all. And when they got back to the castle, he dashed off instantly. And so Simon decided to go looking for Lewis, to check up on him and make sure he was alright.

As he drew closer to Lewis’s lab, something that sounded an awful lot like crying could be heard coming from behind the doors. The sounds grew louder as Simon approached the doors to Lewis’s lab, unmistakably the sound of Lewis crying. Simon knocked on the door and for a moment everything fell silent.

“Lewis? Is everything alright, spaceman?”

“Simon…” Lewis’s voice, muffled from the door, was thick with tears. 

Frowning, Simon opened the door and stepped into Lewis’s lab. Glancing around the lab, it took Simon a few moments to locate where Lewis was. He was sitting on the floor, with his left leg pulled up close to his body and his arms wrapped tightly around his leg. His right leg, which Simon assumed was still hurting, was stretched out straight and Lewis’s head was buried in the small gap between his leg and his body.

“Lewis, are you alright?” Simon asked as he closed the door and walked over towards Lewis. As he reached him, Lewis lifted his head, revealing his tearstained face. And his eyes and freckles were glowing bright blue. Simon sat himself down beside Lewis and wrapped his arm over his friend’s shoulders. Lewis’s whole body was shaking as he sobbed and tears continued falling from his eyes. “What happened?”

“I’m, I’m not…” Lewis broke off to draw in a shuddering breath. “Simon, I’m not human!”


	25. A Murderer Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small mentions of blood in this chapter

“Neither am I.” Simon replied. Lewis’s head jerked up as he looked at his friend.

“What?”

“I’m a dwarf, Lewis, not a human.” Simon said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. But a slight smile crossed his lips. Lewis frowned as his body shook with breaths.

“No, but I thought, I thought that you thought I was human, and I’m not, and,”

“Take a deep breath, Lewis, and calm yourself down a little.” Simon said, rubbing his hand over Lewis’s shoulder. “And, if I’m being honest, I was never sure you were actually human.” Simon said softly. Now might not be the best time to tell Lewis that he’d always known he wasn’t human, but he thought it would be better than keeping it a secret for even longer.

“What?” Lewis stared at Simon, tears still dripping down his cheeks. Simon took a deep breath.

“Well, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but sometimes your eyes and freckles glow, which isn’t exactly normal for a human to do.”

“My eyes, glow?” Simon nodded and Lewis lifted his fingers up towards his eyes and touched them gently, almost like he was trying to feel the glow coming from them. “When, how often, how many people have seen them glow?!” Simon began rubbing Lewis’s shoulder again as he began to work himself up into a state once more.

“I’ve seen them glow multiple times, I think Lal might’ve seen it once, and Hannah saw it once too.” At the mention of Lalnable’s name, Lewis flinched so violently that Simon’s hand fell from his shoulder.

“Sorry, friend.” Lewis mumbled, hugging his leg closer to him. Simon frowned slightly as he wondered whether he should ask Lewis about the strange way in which he was acting around Lalnable earlier, and why he flinched just now, but he decided against it, deciding to wait until he had calmed down a little from discovering he wasn’t as human as he thought.

“You don’t need to apologise, spaceman.” As Simon said his nickname for Lewis, Lewis looked up towards Simon for a moment and Simon could see the gears in his mind turning. Then he looked away and buried his head in his arms.

“You knew!” His voice was muffled. “You knew right from when I crashed that I wasn’t human!” Simon froze for only a moment. Then he placed his hand back onto Lewis’s shoulder. He knew Lewis wasn’t angry at him for not telling him, he was just upset and confused and Simon reckoned he must be wondering how it was that his best friend could know that he wasn’t human, but he couldn’t see it himself.

“Not immediately, Lewis. It took me a while to work it out.”

“How long?” Lewis asked, raising his head and looking over at Simon, tears still dripping down his cheeks. Simon paused as he thought.

“It was when we were in the spaceship. And you had just told me that you couldn’t remember anything, and you were scared. And your eyes began to glow slightly then. And that’s when I first thought that you might not be as human as I originally thought you were. Not that I care about something like that.” Simon smiled comfortingly at Lewis, and rubbed his shoulder at the same time. Lewis tried taking a deeper breath, the breath shuddering as it went in and out.

“And is that why you called me spaceman?” Simon thought for a moment.

“I’m pretty sure I started calling you spaceman before that.” Simon said, smiling once more. Lewis nodded slightly and looked away.

“I’m sorry, friend, I’m not angry at you, I’m just, I just…”He took a deep breath and tried again. “I thought I was human and I thought everyone else thought I was human. And I’m just shocked to know that you knew and I didn’t.” Lewis said quietly, his breathing beginning to slow down slightly. However the bright blue glow from his eyes and freckles was barely fading and Simon began rubbing his shoulder once more.

“Yeah, I know you weren’t angry at me.” 

“So many things make so much more sense now though.” Lewis murmured.

“Like what?” Simon asked, frowning at Lewis. He took his hand from his leg and gestured to his outstretched leg before tucking it back around.

“The past day or so. If, if I’m not human… then maybe that’s why I saw that woman’s memories of being, of being…” Simon blinked.

“You saw her memories?!” Lewis closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, almost like he was trying to dislodge something from inside his mind.

“It sounds crazy, I know, there’s no way I could’ve seen her memories, I’m just imagining things or, or it was stress or,”

“It wouldn’t be the craziest thing I’ve heard today, spaceman.” Simon said, winking at Lewis. Lewis opened his eyes and the tiniest smile crossed his lips. “If you saw her memories, does that mean you saw who killed her? Do you know who’s been murdering all those people.” Lewis grimaced and moved his arms so they were wrapped around his torso, around where Simon knew he could still feel lingering pain from whatever it was that had caused the pain in the first place.

“I saw who killed her. But it can’t be, I don’t want to believe it. And I don’t want to believe that he killed all those other people, that he’s the one responsible…” 

Simon could feel dread welling up inside of him as Lewis talked. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. Instead he just sat with his arm around Lewis’s shoulders and waited for him to find the words to tell him who it was. Lewis took a deep breath. 

“I don’t want it to be him, and I know it’s crazy to have seen someone else’s memories, but I know what I saw, what she saw. And the person who, who murdered her…” Lewis shook his head and pulled his arms tighter around himself. “It was Lal, Simon. Lal was the one who murdered her.” 

Lewis’s voice was barely a whisper. But as he spoke Lalnable’s name, Simon’s stomach plummeted like he was on a rollercoaster and he was hurtling down the steepest slope from the highest point. An image of Lalnable’s grinning face popped into Simon’s head, then suddenly without him thinking or doing anything, Lalnable’s face was covered in blood splatters and his blonde hair was dripping red blood down.

“Lal?” Simon’s voice was hoarse. Lewis nodded weakly.

“I don’t know what to do, friend. He’s our friend, but he’s been murdering all these people, and I don’t know what to do!” Lewis cried out in frustration. A blood covered image of Lalnable was still dancing around Simon’s mind. And suddenly Lewis’s behaviour around Lalnable earlier made so much sense. 

“We have to tell the police.” Simon said quietly.

“What?” Lewis looked down at Simon. “But he’s our friend,”

“I know he’s our friend, Lewis, but he’s also killing people. If we don’t tell the police, how many more people will die?” Simon looked up at Lewis. Lewis’s eyes were still glowing and tears still occasionally trickled down his cheeks. Tears were beginning to well up in Simon’s own eyes as he thought about the idea of turning Lalnable into the police. “I don’t know what’s happened to Lal, but I do know that he can’t keep doing this. Maybe, maybe if he gets caught, he can get help, and maybe he might stop doing what he’s doing.” Lewis looked away from Simon.

“I just don’t want him to feel like we’ve betrayed him.” 

“We’re not betraying him, Lewis. We’re helping him…” Simon didn’t fully believe what he was saying, and he doubted Lewis would either. Lewis sighed.

“We really have to do this, don’t we?” Simon nodded.

“But not today. You need to give yourself some time to process everything, spaceman.” Lewis looked down at Simon and smiled.

“Thank you, Simon.”

“No problem, spaceman. Now let’s get you somewhere else so you’re not just sat on the floor of your lab all day.” Simon grinned and stood up, holding out his hand for Lewis to grab. Lewis took hold of Simon’s hand and hauled himself up, careful to not bash his right leg around too much. “Come on, I reckon you need a nap, spaceman.” 

Simon placed his arm around Lewis’s waist and the pair headed out of Lewis’s lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a slightly shorter chapter, and for that I'm sorry. And I'm also apologising for the fact that I'll be having a couple of weeks hiatus while I'm on a uni trip, but to make it up to you guys, I'll be writing a longer chapter for when I do next update. So see you then!
> 
> MANDATORY REST STOP! If you are reading this as a completed work, this is a mandatory rest stop! Close the tab, get some food/rest/something to drink. It will still be here when you get back :)


	26. When a Friend Disappears

“Maybe if we just talk to Lal…”Lewis murmured quietly as he sat at his desk, staring at the phone sitting there, seeming to take up more space than it rightly should. Simon’s gaze was also fixed on the phone but he glanced up to Lewis as he heard him speak. He knew that Lewis was just grasping at straws, hoping that Lal would deny everything and they wouldn’t have to turn him into the police.

“If it is Lal doing this, then I’m not entirely sure he can be reasoned with, Lewis.”

“I know, but maybe, if we just talk to him, we could make him realise that what he’s doing is wrong…”

“And then what?” Simon asked glumly. “We’d still have to turn him into the police. He’s a murderer now, Lewis.” Lewis frowned and finally looked away from the phone.

“Alright. But before we call the police, I just want to talk to him. I promise I’m not backing out of this, I just want to know why.” Lewis got to his feet. “If you want to stay here, friend, that’s fine with me.” Simon grinned, although it was only a half-hearted grin.

“I’ll be coming with you for this, spaceman.” Lewis smiled gratefully. If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t want to see Lalnable on his own. And if he was being truly honest with himself, he was scared of Lalnable.

The duo headed out of Lewis’s office and silently walked down the corridor towards Lalnable’s labs. Lewis was still slightly limping, the pain only having lessened a little the past few days. Tension grew as the pair drew closer to Lalnable’s labs. The reached the door to his labs and paused. Gathering his courage, Lewis reached out and knocked on the door. The knock echoed slightly and the pair held their breath as they waited for a reply.

Nothing.

Frowning, Lewis knocked again, slightly louder.

“Lal, you in there?” He called out.

Again, there was no response. Glancing towards Simon, Lewis rested his hand on the handle and pushed the door open. Inside, Lalnable’s labs were the same as they had always been. Clutter was gathered on the workbenches and in Lalnable’s frequent absentmindedness, bunsen burners had been left alight. But there was no sight of Lalnable. Lewis and Simon walked into the lab and began looking around, Lewis turning off the still lit bunsen burners to prevent an accident from happening.

“Do you think he went out?” Simon shrugged.

“Who knows. He’s been pretty hard to keep track of the past few weeks. Barely anyone has seen him.” Simon replied. Lewis sighed.

“Yeah…”

“Maybe we should wait for him to come back?” It was Simon’s turn to grasp at straws now. Lewis looked over at his friend.

“And what if he doesn’t come back?” Lewis asked, tiredly. Simon blinked.

“What?” Lewis gestured vaguely.

“Well, he hasn’t exactly been himself lately.” It suddenly clicked for Simon.

“You think he’s run away?” Lewis grimaced.

“I don’t know friend. I don’t know. But, but I wouldn’t put it past him. Certainly not at the moment.” Simon looked around Lalnable’s labs again. They seemed even emptier now that the man who used to spend so much time in here might be gone. He suddenly started noticing the dust beginning to coat the less used objects, and the cobwebs that had collected in the corners of the room.

“Would he really run away though?” Simon murmured quietly. The pair remained quiet for a while longer.

“I guess we have nothing stopping us from calling the police now.” Lewis eventually said, breaking the heavy silence that had formed.

“I guess not.” 

Despite them both having agreed to call the police, neither one moved. It was like they were both waiting, hoping that Lalnable would walk through the door. It was another couple of minutes again before Lewis finally moved.

“Come on, friend. Let’s get this over with.” Simon wordlessly moved to Lewis’s side and the pair left, walking back down the corridors towards Lewis’s office.

* * *

 

Lalnable had indeed run away, for he never returned to the castle, but neither was he caught by the police. Aside from the occasional murder, which began to happen with less and less frequency, it was like he’d completely vanished. Neither Simon nor Lewis heard from him or saw him again, and they both wondered quietly to themselves if he hated them for what they’d done.

Despite Lalnable having almost completely vanished into thin air, Lewis didn’t want to let his research on cloning go to waste, and so with the blood from a volunteer, a farmer from the outskirts of Datlof called Sjin, and some of the leftover blood that Lalnable himself had donated, Lewis continued working on the cloning research. Lalnable had done most of the hard work, and all Lewis needed to do was to calibrate the machines to the new blood sample, and then set the new parameters. Lewis wanted to see if it was possible to clone someone with a slightly different skill set to the original, so to speak. Lewis’s plan with these new clones was to see if he could program into the genetic makeup a higher magical ability.

It didn’t take long for Lewis to calibrate the cloning machines for the new blood, and then to program in the increase in magical ability. And then when he’d done that, two new clones were born. For a while it was almost like things had gone back to normal for Lewis and Simon. There was another Lalnable in the castle, although this one preferred to go by Lalna, and for a short time, it seemed that everything would be as it used to be. Even if this Lalnable was more interested in magic than science. But Lalna didn’t hang around for long. He and the clone of Sjin quickly took off from the castle, like Lalnable before him leaving a plethora of unfinished experiments. And although Lalna and Sjin didn’t disappear completely like Lalnable had, they faded almost completely out of Lewis and Simon’s lives. And so Lewis decided to give the cloning one more try. And he kept telling himself that he was doing this to help people, that with this technology he would be helping people who had genetic diseases, or other illnesses that would eventually kill them. He told himself that he was doing this to help society, not to help himself or to replace Lalnable. Because what kind of person would replace their friends when they left with clones of the original? No, that’s not why he was doing this. Or at least that’s what he kept telling himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing with writer's block is an absolute pain in the backside. I feel like this is a load of dogshit, but it's all I can do at the moment, and for that I'm sorry.
> 
> And it's a lot shorter than I had hoped it would be too, but it was a struggle to get even this many words. So I apologise, and I hope that this writer's block goes away soon...

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know of any spelling/grammatical errors throughout the work. I try to find as many as possible but I'm bound to miss some.
> 
> I've created a blog on tumblr which talks about the details of this world and will be including a lot of details that I won't be able to put into this story. It'd be great if people wanted to check it out, you can find it at https://ask-me-about-datlof.tumblr.com - just a small warning, there will be spoilers for the story on the blog, but when it gets going properly, it'll mostly be talking about all the little interesting details me and my friend have come up with while creating this world.
> 
> I also want to say thank you to all my friends who have helped me with this world, especially my friend Meg; over half the ideas and plot points for this world came from her and we've spent many hours together bouncing ideas back and forth and smoothing over plot holes and sometimes just having fun with the world and the characters. There were so many things that inspired this world, from songs to actual cannon Yogscast content to the stupidest head cannons becoming reality and I just want to let you guys reading this know that without my friends, there's no way this world would exist. Because they deserve just as much credit as me.


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